We’re not allowed to play with food

I’ve just had dinner with my daughter. We’ve had a bowl of roasted vegetables and potatoes and a plate full of steak and sausages.

I took a piece of sausage and started playing with it. My daughter started laughing and really enjoyed the show daddy was putting on. Suddenly she said “No daddy, we’re not allowed to play with food”.

I was shocked. Yes, there are certain rules in our house, even though we try to keep words like No, You Can’t and Don’t to a minimum. One of those rules she heard in the past might be that we can’t throw food on the floor or we shouldn’t waste any food on purpose.

However, not being allowed to play with food before eating it, is definitely not a rule in our house.

Most of the fun when having a BBQ is not the actual eating of the meat for me, but the process of having the BBQ – the preparations, the starting of the fire, the preparing of the various meat cuts, the sizzling of the meat on the grill and the intentional high flames that appear when fat is dripping down into the charcoal.

I’m all about exploring and having fun when making or eating food.

In general, what’s life without playing?

That’s probably why, back in my teenage years, my first real business that generated some serious revenue was a gaming company. It’s something that’s deeply ingrained in me.

I actually have never been a good player of online games. I suck at FIFA and I even lost against other players in all of the games I created myself. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy playing. And it certainly doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the processes – of creating and playing.

In the end, life is just like one big game.

We win some battles, we lose some. We level up and collect artefacts and points and we face tough challenges from time to time.

I don’t just create software and businesses because I want to make a ton of money. My main motivation isn’t just being my own boss or the freedom that comes with that.

It’s the game. It’s the challenge. It’s being the author of my own life. Writing my own story rather than having someone decide for me. It’s about being the creator of my life.

That are some of my deepest values in life, and exactly the values I want to teach my kids by living and practising those values in front of them every day – be happy, be playful, be funny, be joyful, create.