Belinda Kissack

Here I am in February of 2010. What a final half of 2009. I finished my ironman race and did really well. That means I finished, even though when I signed up I had my doubts. Not only did I finish, I came in 1 hour sooner than I thought I might. I have to say so far that race day was the best day of my life. What better way to spend a day than swimming in Lake Okanagon, cycling through the the valleys past vineyards, then going for a social run / stroll through the streets of Penticton all lined with people clapping and cheering. If that wasn’t enough, in October, I found time to travel to Mexico via cruise ship, then off to Australia for three weeks with the family. Since then, I’ve come down from my playtime and gotten busy with work.

All this funtime had me thinking about play. As children grow, they learn through their play. They go through a spell and then stop playing…I think they think they’ve figured life out. Then they go through a spell of learning skills. This is where many decide that learning is work and no longer play, whereas others continue to play whether it is school, work, or chores. When you read about successful business people or adventurous seniors, it strikes me that they have always played.

Let`s face it. Playing is fun, so is learning new skills and taking on new challenges. It seems to me to be a matter of perspective. If you approach work and challenges as fun, it becomes play. A lot of people ask me how I don`t get too tired from training for triathlon or how I get out and put the miles in. I approach it as fun. Last year, I had some serious work to do in order to prepare for Ironman, but overall the challenge was one that I was excited about. Within the overall goal of completing Ironman, I had minigoals of how I might accomplish the week’s workouts, or I threw in other subgoals such as challenging myself to swim 200 m butterfly. This was no easy goal. I actually gave myself several years to accomplish this, but attempted sooner and succeeded. This year, I decided for fun, I would race in a running race series and then later in the season a triathlon series. I have never joined a triathlon series, so I thought that might be fun to track my progress over the season. Last year, I didn’t have time to do the fun shorter races. This year I do and I don’t want any pressure on these races, so I am taking a more curious perspective. I plan to collect some heart rate data and see what happens. 

I started thinking more about play through reading new materials for work. I am doing some different projects this year, so I wanted to read up on different approaches on helping people. The recommendation was to be more playful and curious in learning about people`s experiences and responses.

So again, it looks like another year of play. From what I understand about living life to the fullest, it sounds like a requirement. And I`m looking forward to it.

Belinda Kissack is a Registered Clinical Counsellor who works with individuals, couples and families in the Cowichan Valley including Lake Cowichan, Chemainus, Duncan, Ladysmith, Shawnigan Lake, Cobble Hill, Maple Bay, and Mill Bay. Belinda is also providing services for group facilitation.If you would like to make an appointment with Belinda or ask about group facilitation requirements, please contact her at 250-710-9972.