Is it OK to just have fun?

I am an ultra competitive person, and if you ask just about any of my sources, they will tell you I am very intense. I am sure a couple may be reading this column right now and chuckling or nodding their heads in agreement.
When my wife and I play pickleball with our friends on Friday nights, she sometimes hopes to be on the opposite side of the net when we play doubles, because I am all about winning.
I don’t believe in participation trophies, and when I competed in college track, I wanted our team to win conference titles, not come in second, or third, or any other place, it was all about winning a title.
But recently, I have been trying to calm down a bit, and maybe not take everything thrown at me in my life as seriously, and it’s OK to just have fun.
There was no better example of me testing this new found patience than this weekend.
My mother-in-law came up to visit from Mankato, and checked out the new "Freaky Friday" movie. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a must watch. If you haven’t seen the original I urge you to do so.
On Saturday, after a day at the Farmer’s Market, we went to play Bingo, talk about patience.
We didn’t win, but we came close, it was fun.
The next day we had our first kickball game. My wife and I joined a league and were able to join a team through free agency.
We learned at the game that there are three different divisions, based on competitive balance.
The team we are on was dominating the lower division last year, so our team was moved up a division.
We didn’t win. It is a LGBTQIA+ league; our team is made up of mixed ages, genders, and backgrounds. The team we faced was made up of a bunch of buffed men. No excuses, but we got 10-run-ruled very early in the game.
The games are time limited after an hour, so we still had time remaining. The umpire asked if we wanted to keep playing, and everyone said yes, we are still having fun.
After the game we went through the high five line, and everyone had smiles on their faces, looking forward to the next game.
It was a reminder that it is OK to just have fun.