My kids have a pool they like to use in the backyard on a hot summer day. It’s one of those little blow-up deals, but it provides endless hours of fun. The way they jump in it, splash about and do cartwheels, you’d think it was the most popular water park in town.

But me? I see an entirely different picture when it’s pool day.

I see work.

Chances are I’ll have to deflate the pool and put it away when it’s time to mow the lawn. At which point I’ll find that it has killed the grass, requiring even more yard work. And then there’s the pile of sopping-wet swim gear that’ll have to be dealt with later, too.

I don’t look at it with a kid’s eyes anymore.

So, I have to ask myself, “When did I become such a stiff? I used to like playing in the pool. When did my view of the world become so…I don’t know…tedious?”

As a financial professional, you may encounter a similar attitude with retirement clients—as if they’re solely focused on navigating the perils ahead (health care, inflation, taxes, yikes!) instead of diving in for the best times of their lives.

I know I justified my shortsighted outlook by thinking, “It’s normal for me to act my age. Adulthood is reality time, not playtime.” But little did I know the impact of my mundane mindset.

Psychologist Roger Hall is an author and Fortune 20 executive coach whose specialty is the neuroscience of healthy thinking. He says it’s typical to stop jumping in puddles as we age. We lose our sense of play.

“Part of the reason is that we get jobs…have relationships…kids…mortgages…bills…you know the drill,” Hall says. “In general, society tells adults to put fun on the backburner.”

Life gets all grown-up really fast. Plus, as we continue to age, things like divorce, illness or job loss might even get sprinkled in on top, further clamoring for our attention.

“We’ve pushed playtime away from our brains but, ironically, that’s the type of thing that would actually help us cope with life’s challenges,” Hall adds. “The thing we don’t think we need any longer, well, we need it even more.”

Today, we’ve discovered much more about the science of play and its effect on adults, not just kids. When we play and experience joy, our grown-up brains release the good chemicals that can help us feel better, act better and live longer. Hall says one example is dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that keeps the stress hormone cortisol at bay.

“Take away those moments of joy and we open the door to cortisol, resulting in stress,” he says. “That added stress is linked to depression, anxiety, pain, hostility and substance abuse.”

SERIOUSLY? All of the pressures of adulthood can be resolved by a little childlike play?

That’s counterintuitive! Play is described as fanciful… fun-loving…lighthearted.

It’s hard to believe that something so frivolous could be so important.

On the contrary, a little playtime actually packs some very serious power:

• Just 30 minutes of play unlocks dopamine as well as serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins that affect us on a deep chemical level. Those hormones boost pleasure and curb stress, promote social bonding and love, control depression and pain, and nurture our well being (Source: "Play and the Feel-Good Hormones,” PrimalPlay.com, June 23, 2016).

• The Mayo Clinic reports that play contributes to greater happiness, healthy aging and resilience. Those who think of themselves as more playful find the challenges in life more manageable, which is good because play is a skill that can be practiced and learned (Source: ”5 ways to bring play back into your life,” S. Peterson, MayoCinic.org, Apr 3, 2018).

• Play brings us joy and happiness, which in turn is related to longer life. In fact, the U.S. National Library for Medicine reports that the risk of death is 14% higher for those who are not happy (Source: ”Happiness and Longevity in the United States,” E. Lawrence, R. Rodgers, T. Wadsworth, The National Center for Biotechnology Information, Sep 18, 2015, 2018). So, a little happy playtime is starting to look pretty good.

We’re all bound to encounter challenging days at work or some burdensome setback at home. But playfulness can build up our resilience over time, which becomes a bank of resiliency we can draw on in the future to offset the inevitable stressors in life. “Without intentional efforts to play, our busy adult brains would no longer have the time nor white space to get into the mode where they work best,” Hall says.

If you’re surprised by the power of play, well, same here. We used to think healthy aging required a focus on diet and exercise. Of course, taking care of our bodies still matters a lot. Plus, we now know that purpose plays a role, too—pursuing meaningful goals that can keep our minds healthy.

But now we’ve found that play is also crucial. It can facilitate happiness, ward off depression, reduce stress and lower our risk of developing age-related diseases, including dementia (Source: “Participating in Activities You Enjoy,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oct. 23, 2017).  

Suddenly, a game of Marco, Polo in the pool with the kids makes more sense than getting bent out of shape over some dead grass in the yard.

Fact is, our Play is serious business. And it has now become more important to those planning for and living in retirement. With that, it may be time to build a whole new kind of playbook for your book of business. You won’t want to be the last one in the pool.

Dan Starishevsky is senior vice president of distribution and advisory marketing at Jackson National Life Distributors LLC.