The Dx2 Podcast
Two sisters discuss what they are learning about having a balanced wheel of life that rolls along as smoothly as possible.
The Dx2 Podcast
Why Scheduling Play Each Week Keeps Your Life In Motion
We explore recreation and play as core parts of a balanced life, from small daily “snacks” to deeper weekly sessions that reset mood, focus, and energy. We share stories—from fishing to pickleball to quilting—and challenge you to design joy on purpose and “prove your own armor.”
• Wheel of Life framing for balance
• Simple activities that touch multiple wellness spokes
• Defining play across active, creative, and restful modes
• How often to schedule play and why intention matters
• Solo versus social play and matching needs to seasons
• Redefining recreation for introverts and limited mobility
• Family routines that build connection through play
• Practical examples: pickleball, hiking, reading, gardening
• Designing weeks with micro-rests and longer sessions
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Welcome to the D Times 2 podcast, hosted by Sisters Denise and Debra. We are all about finding balance in the various parts of life. Using the Wheel of Life as our guide, we explore how to keep each spoke rolling smoothly. We discuss health and wellness, education and spirituality, as well as mental and emotional growth. Join us for real conversations, practical tips, and a few laughs as we share stories, insights, and strategies to help you create a life that feels balanced, purposeful, and designed by you. Hey Deb. Hi, Denise. How are you doing today? I'm good. How are you? Pretty good. Pretty good. What's been on your mind lately? You know, I heard a church leader over the weekend talk about something that has really been sticking in my head. And he was talking about David, King David from the Old Testament, before he was king, when he was just a shepherd. And he came to see his brothers on the battlefield. The Israelites were going to battle against the Philistines, and it was when Goliath was taunting the Israel armies, and nobody wanted to go fight him. And David's young David said, I'll go. And King Saul was so impressed with him that he offered him his armor. So Saul put all of his armor on young David and said, Okay, now you can go out and fight. And David did not feel comfortable in his armor. And it's got to be the best armor, right? It's the king's armor. So it's it's gotta be the best male, the best helmet, the best everything. But David didn't feel comfortable in it. He hadn't tried it, he hadn't proved it. So he told King Saul to help him take it off, and and then he went and got his five smooth stones and went out and killed a giant with no armor on, trusting in what he had been doing his whole life, and the pretty much the trust that he had built in God. He had proved his own armor, quote unquote, with God and trusted him and did his own thing true to who he, his character and actually who he was. I've heard that story so many times, and that was a different take on it that we can get the best armor from somebody else, but it's not ours. Whatever armor that may be. The more we're true to ourselves, the stronger we are. Yeah. Yeah. Nice insight. Good thought to start with. Yeah. How about you? Any thoughts? Not exactly thoughts, but I had an interesting discussion over the weekend with my husband Tom. We were out camping, and the last time we had gone, he had said he wanted to start fishing again. He hasn't fished for decades, so he has no gear. He got a book. I think we talked about that. Like he he was he was all geared up to go fishing. And I talked to him about did he have to learn anything before he could fish? And was the fishing a hobby or was it play or was it relaxation? And he said, you know what? I really like I had to study a little bit, I have to learn, I keep doing research, but it's really relaxing. To me, it's a relaxing hobby. It clears my mind, it gives my body a rest and a reset. And I feel like I just have like a clean slate. And I said, Do you know how many spokes in the wheel of life you just mentioned from doing something as simple as going fishing? What did he say? He said, I never would have thought about that, but yeah. He said, Oh, I might get another spoke too, because if I catch something healthy nutrition, we'll have some healthy food. So he told me he caught a little one before I got there, but it was little enough. He turned it loose. He never got another, he got a couple nibbles, but he didn't catch anything. But I thought it was an interesting way to look at it that you can you can affect multiple areas of the wheel of life just by simple things or having a new interest come up. Yes. So I just I wanted to mention that partly too, because today we're gonna talk about recreation and play. Nice recreation and play. So what's recreation and play? I I think it's different things for different people. So for me, it's getting outside, it's moving my body in some way, it's something that is like doesn't necessarily take a lot of mental exertion. I mean, it could, but for me, that's not what it is. So for me, it looks like I'm going swimming, or I'm going paddleboarding, or I'm playing pickleball, or I'm playing with my house plants because I'm trying different things there, or I'm experimenting with different recipes or ways to make sourdough bread. So it can be thought of, I think, as recreation or play or hobbies or interests, whatever word is right for you. So for me, it's kind of all of those that all fit under that category. What do you think it is? What is it to you? Oh, hiking. Hiking is a form of recreation for me. Yeah, it clears my mind. I don't have to think a lot, but it usually makes me think a lot about different things. Yes, that's true. That's true. Hiking does that for me too. I think that play and recreation, like some people think it has to be a sport. You play a sport, but it's not, and it looks different. Young moms play all the time with their kids. You know, like I like to play in the garden. I experiment different with different things in my garden, and I experiment with different kinds of fermenting things, and I experiment with different kinds of quilting items. I have babies, grandbabies coming, and I make quilts for them. And which design is going to be the easiest for me to do? But still be cute. So I I mean there are so many different ways. Some my husband likes to play by working on cars, and yeah, my husband likes that one too. Changing brakes, and to me, that would not be fun. That would be work for me. But he enjoys it. Yes, it's work, it's hard, but he in he enjoys that kind of thing. Some people's recreation and play is reading a book. That's one of mine. And and it's okay. Like recreation to me, you have to find the word recreate in it. You have to recreate your life and recreate your environment. We are creators by design. And so sometimes we need to play so we can recreate our lives and just come back to center. Yeah. Another way to think of it too could be relaxation. Yeah. Because sometimes for me, depending on how I'm feeling, I want to do something that's more active. And sometimes I need things that are more relaxing, like reading a book or watching a movie. Like that's to me, it's relaxing, but it falls under that recreation and play category. Never beat a dead horse. That saying has been around for a long time for a reason. People that are drinking energy drinks all day long just to stay functional, that's what they're doing. They are beating themselves up like they were a dead horse. We got to stop doing that. The only energy drink that I recommend to my clients is update. It's clean energy without caffeine. So you don't have jitters and chaos and like the problems that caffeine causes in the body. And it also helps to give you focus and a clear mind. It's really the one I use and the one I recommend. To get a discount off of your order, go to drinkupdate.com and use the code DX2. That's D times2. That's us. So drinkupdate.com, and then the code for your discount is DX2. For our mom, she does a lot of things that to her are fun and play, they're her interests, they're her hobbies. Like she'll quilt, she'll sew, she'll do needlework, she does embroidery, she does rug hooking. And to me, I just hear torture, torture, torture, drudgery. That's not fun for me. No, but she loves it and gets her juices flowing and gets her something to do that she enjoys. Yeah. So all of our recreation and play, it does look sometimes, it overlaps with what other people like, but it's it's whatever helps us in our lives. Yeah. So some people paint, some people do stain glass. It can look like a million different things. So when do you think it's important to play or recreate or relax or whatever word you choose? I think it should be done on a regular basis. A lot of people get caught up in life and just go, go, go and don't take time to do those things. And then they're burnt out and exhausted, and they haven't taken the time or scheduled the time to take a step back and play or relax or do some recreation, whatever that activity may be. So I think on a weekly basis, I think would be ideal. Sometimes life doesn't well, actually, that's not true. I think it we can be intentional, which was part of the wheel. Right. I was gonna say if we're designing our life and trying to set our days and weeks and months up on purpose, we can do it as often as we want to. But how often is it necessary? You think once a week? I think it depends on the person's on on your person the person's life. Some people need it more often in different times in their lives. And some people are okay less often at certain times in their lives. I think it just depends on where people are in the busyness of life and the things that have to be done. But I think you can take small snacks. Sure. A snack of play, a snack of recreation, a snack of relaxation. Like if if if reading is relaxing to you, you can read for 10 minutes and get a small snack of something. And then sometimes you go to the buffet. Yes, and sometimes you go to the buffet and you read for an hour. But like most people don't have don't schedule time or have time for an hour of something in their lives. So you and I have deliberately scheduled in generally at least twice a week pickleball over this summer, where we're playing with each other. Yeah. Sometimes we have to reschedule it, sometimes it's once a week instead of twice a week, but we're really trying at least for sure to do that twice a week. Are you doing other play or recreation as well? Yes. Yeah. Okay. I play pickleball on one night a week with my daughter. Uh-huh. Awesome. But I'm also in my garden and I'm also cooking. I'm at a right now, I'm trying a bunch of new recipes to just get different food in our diet. So that to me, that's playing. To me, it's play too. For some people, it's not, but I also started a book and just read a little bit every night. It's a thinking book, so I can't just dive into it like a novel. So I just read in a little bit and can think about that. And so those are some things I'm doing. So you get some snacks here and there, you get some meals here and there, and then I'm I'm I'm gonna say I'm scattered little bits here and there. I do try to do at least a little bit of something each day. And sometimes like it could fall under another category too, but sometimes for me, taking it like a relaxing walk in the evening while I listen to a novel, like a book, like not a business podcast, not a you know, just a relaxation listening thing. Sometimes it's music, but usually it's a book. To me, that's a snack of re recreation relaxation. I think that's something that a lot of people could actually work into their lives, even if you have kids at home or you're just by yourself after dinner, just take 10 minutes and go for a short walk. Like that's get out while it's nice in the summertime. You could even go in the winter and bundle up because that's good for you too. Yeah. But that that's something that could be easy to do. You're way too young to remember this, but as you were talking about that, I had a flashback of when dad was in chiropractic college in Davenport, Iowa. So you were very young. Yeah, I was born when he was going to school. So you were maybe one or two. And I was about five, I think. And he was very busy because he had four and then five kids while he was going to school. And he like and being married, and he also worked full-time. Yeah. But I distinctly remember that during the nice days, the summer, fall or Indian summer time, we would ride bikes to the park and play every night after dinner, just for a little while. And I just think back and think he really saw the value in that. It's family time, but it was recreation playtime together. And like I was young, but I remember it. Yeah. So there are all there are all kinds of ways to do it, and it's individual, but you might as well involve your family if you have family around in your house or even close by. If you want to, because I'm gonna say sometimes I want solo. Yes. Like sometimes I just want to be out on the water myself, or I want to be on the trail myself, and then other times I want to be with people and have it be more sociable. Yeah. It fits that need in a different way. So, why, Deb, why is it important to include this in our wheel of life, this recreation and place book? Why in the world is that important in our wheel? The easiest way I could say it is all work and no play makes Deborah really, really sad. I don't think that's how the saying goes, but that's close enough. It's pretty close, yeah. But so the saying is all work and no play makes whoever a dull boy. Yeah. Makes, yeah, but it doesn't really rhyme. It doesn't at all, but you get the idea. So part of it is that it helps you break out of the work aspect, the chore and task of life aspect, and gives you some levity and lightheartedness and like literally a mental and energetic shift. True. So I was talking to Tom about that part of it too, over the weekend, and he said, you know, if I go for two or three weeks and all I'm doing is work, sleep, eat, work, sleep, eat, I just feel overwhelmed. Like I feel like I'm not getting anything done. And I said, but you are because you're getting all of your work done, it's just not balanced with other areas of your life. My son talks about that. My youngest son, he he's 6'4, 2'20, strapping young man. But during his during his junior and senior year of high school, he went to the gym a lot. He played football and he wrestled and he went to the gym a lot, and he was jacked. Yes. He had muscles for days. So that was a few years ago, and now he's in college, and he says he has to go to the gym at least once a week to work out hard, to lift heavy weights, or else his life just feels too much. So he he does, he makes sure he goes to the gym at least once a week, and it it makes him it makes it easier to go to school, it makes it easier for him to go to work and to just live his life. So that's what he does. It's important to take a break and do something fun and to shift your gears. We're not designed to just work and have drudgery in our lives. Can you find recreation and play in your work? Of course, absolutely. Yeah, sometimes you have to look for it a little more than others. Yeah. But you can you can for sure. You can. We have to play. You have to activate the different parts of your brain so that your life is feels fulfilling and and good, and you can have joy in your life. And ultimately it will be more well balanced. Yes. So how because like life looks different for everybody. There's different stages of life. Like both of us right now we're empty nesters. It didn't always look like that. For some people, they're in college, for some people, they're hardworking 20-somethings, single or married, some have kids, some don't. How do you think you can or should implement recreation and play hobbies into the different stages of life? I think no matter what stage of life you're in, it's something you need to be intentional about, or else it's not going to happen, or it's going to happen too much and other areas of your life will suffer. Say you're a college student and you spend too much playing, your grades will suffer. I did I did that for a little while when I was in college. I played a lot. And I think that's normal for college students, right? They get they get away from home and their life is their own and they can just kind of do whatever they want, but there has to be balance there. If you're a young mom and you have, I have a couple of daughters that are young moms and they're busy. If they don't play, then the days just feel long and stressful and hard. But you can engage in play with your children. I remember doing that. We'd we play games and it felt less like I was babysitting my own children and more like I was enjoying my time with them because we we played. When you're older, like us and our empty nesters, your play maybe you have more freedom to choose different types of play, like we've talked about that we do. What do you think? I I really think it can can look different for everybody. It just really needs to be intentional. Yes. Whether a couple of times whether you're scheduling it in or whatever. Like we talked about mom a little while ago where I was talking about, you know, her quilting and all those. I'm gonna say the inside ones. That's why they don't they don't appeal to me. Because I want to be outside when I'm playing or in the kitchen when I'm playing. But she spends a lot of time doing it, but she didn't when we were growing up, she didn't have the time to, right? As we got older and there were fewer kids at home, she started doing more and more and more. Yeah. So it looks different at different times in your life. But as we've said several times, it has to be intentional, which is what the whole wheel of life is is about. It's living your life on purpose and with intent so that your your life rolls smoothly.
unknown:Yeah.
Speaker:So I have a question for you. You were talking about your two daughters who are young moms, and you played pickleball one evening a week with one of those daughters. Yes. And you gave her a pickleball set for her birthday. Uh-huh. Were you trying to encourage her to play more? Were you trying to get more time with her? What like what was your intent with that? Were you just looking for another playmate? I knew if I needed to play more, I could just call you. So there were the reason behind that was a was there were several reasons. One was she she wanted to play pickleball more. Oh. And if she has her own set, she can go play with whoever she wants to whenever she wants to. I scheduled time to play with her on a night when I knew neither of us had anything going on so that we could play intentionally. Like she could get out of the house at the end of the day after the kids were in bed and come play. Just be a person. Yeah. I also did it to help our relationship. It we get to just play and have a good time and we laugh and we talk about all kinds of things, and we probably talk more than we play. But I I love it. I have I have really enjoyed spending that time with her. So it was it was a multifaceted thing. Yeah. That's one thing I think is important to recognize. And I started it off talking about Tom, realizing how much the fishing is multifaceted. We can have a lot of things in our life that serve multiple purposes. Yes. But I think it's awesome that you're doing that with her. That takes us to our last little section of what we wanted to talk about with recreation and play is who do we do it with? We've talked about that a little bit. We can do it by yourself. Some sometimes you need to do it alone. And sometimes you can do it with a family member or a friend or a big group of people. When I when we lived in California, I participated in a mud run. It was the only mud run I'd ever done then or since. It was so much fun. And I think it was so much fun because I was with so many other people. So to me, that was that was some recreation and play. Yeah. But I think also serving can be recreation and play. Like our church group sometimes gets together and does a service project. Okay. I was like, serving? What do you mean? Yeah. So if you do something together with a group of people, it's whoever you want to do it with. Yeah. Solo, family, friends, community. I think ultimately it can be all of the above. When I read, I read by myself. When I play with my plants, I usually do it like to me, that's solo time. A lot of other stuff can be with other people, but you were talking about back in California. When I lived in California, one of my things I did every Saturday morning in my little town was go to the dance studio and I did Zumba. And so it was for me recreation and play. I, yeah, I got some fitness. Yeah, I got some socialization and some friendship out of it. I was with a bunch of people, but I wasn't with them, like you with your mud run. Yeah. You can also like in the summertime in a lot of communities, there are farmers markets, and some people like to go just look around at them to smell the smells and try the different things. That also can be recreation and play with a group of people, but not with a group of people, kind of the same thing. Yeah. So I it just depends on what it is. I had a lot of thoughts about that last week. You and I were teaching a class about the wheel of life. Yes. And one lady really made an impression on me when she said, I am an introvert, I don't have any friends, and I physically can't go play anything. How can I do recreation and play? Like, do you like to read? Do you like to? I mean, what do you like to do? And she had things she liked to do, but she was kind of saying, I don't fit what I think the stereotypical image is of recreation. So therefore, I don't fit that spoke. I have a zero in that spoke. And it was absolutely false. So I think it's important to remember we can do things solo. We can do things with other people, but also they can all look different. What I think is recreation and play is not what my husband thinks is recreation and play. Our you know, ours overlaps with hiking. That is our recreation play we do together. Also, sometimes we go for a drive. We just get the car and he drives, and I look around. And that to us is recreation and play. It's time together. We don't really talk a whole lot, but it's stepping out of our house and going and doing something. We have we live in a beautiful area, so we just drive around. So it it really is just whatever's not working drudgery to you. Really? Break that pattern of getting stuck in a rut and all the tasks and the to-do list, and yeah, gotta do this, gotta do that, gotta go here, gotta do that, you know, be there and put your head up and say, Oh, I can do this for fun, or I can do this for a little bit. Five, ten minutes, an hour a day really can be anything. Okay, so to wrap up, we have a challenge for you. The challenge is to be intentional with your recreation and play, whatever that looks like for you. Take some time on a Sunday evening and plan your week or your month and schedule some recreation and play. Alone with somebody else, whatever it looks like. That's our challenge for you. Sounds good. Awesome. We'll see you next time. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the D Times 2 podcast with Denise and Deborah. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Be sure to subscribe and share it with someone who's ready to roll toward a more balanced life. Your support means the world to us. And just a quick note we're sharing our own experiences and ideas, not professional advice. Always do your own research and talk to a qualified professional before making big decisions. Until next time, keep your wheel rolling strong.