We have a Jeep Wrangler. She is golden yellow with black tires and some black trim, so her name is Bee.

Yesterday Bee and I were out shopping and a woman in the supermarket parking lot asked me, “Why yellow?” I said it’s because my Tonka truck was yellow. I didn’t paint her red because she’s not the fastest. I didn’t paint her black because I’m not trying to project how tough and serious she is. She is yellow because she is a toy. Because yellow is playful and happy and that makes me happy.

“Men and their toys,” she said, and she walked on. Afterward I thought, men don’t play with toys. They may own toys, but they don’t play with them because men are adults and adults don’t play.

“That’s not true, Dean.”

Oh yes, it is. It is perhaps one of life’s most important truths so please don’t forget it.

Adults never play. Only children play. Only children know how.

So, if you’re an adult and you want to play you’ll have to find that child that still lives somewhere inside you. Otherwise it’s not going to happen. And if you haven’t seen that kid for a while—if it’s been so long that you don’t even know where to look for them—don’t worry, just start trying to play and it won’t be long before the child will show up all on their own.

Play is the work of a child and children take this work seriously. They’re good at it, they can sense it from a mile away, and they can’t resist it.

So if you feel yourself getting old, reclaim your childhood with play.

Adults never play. Only children play. Only children know how.

At first we play because we are young. Then, we are young because we play.

Today looks like a good day to play. Ask that kid what they want to do. You might even find that as the kid inside you is playing, the adult inside you is building yourself a beautiful life.