Are You Having Fun?

I remember, when I was a child, I never thought about fun I just had it. It was everywhere. An empty can and a stick became a toy, chasing butterflies was a blast, and just sitting on the porch with a Popsicle was a stitch. Somewhere in between then and now life became serious. I can't put my finger on it. It simply changed.

The good news is that life does not have to remain so serious. Although now I make a conscious effort to have fun, I have come to realize the benefits of lightening up. Being so serious all the time is, well, not any fun. Having fun allows us to laugh and relax which reduces stress. Stress is bad and can make us sick or worse. Adding fun to our lives is not just for the fun of it. It brings with it many benefits. Just one of those is better health.

Do you know how to have fun? At one point in my life, I forgot how to have fun. Life was just too important and serious to consider it. In addition, when I did have fun, often it was faux fun. It was not fun at all, but something that medicated or eased the stress, but did not have a lasting effect. Martha Beck defines faux fun as, "Fun that gets boring, fun that brings regrets or fun that makes us feel worse." To discover what real fun is, we have to reach back and think about what we liked to do as children.

It is time to start having more fun. Even if it is just for fifteen minutes a day, schedule in something that is fun. Create a fun habit each day. Each day that you practice having fun will strengthen your fun muscle.

Life is too short not to have fun. Make it a habit to create more fun in your life. All of us can have more fun. We simply have to start making it a priority in our life and not let a day go by that we do not have fun.

Here is a fun challenge. Make a list of thirty things that are fun to you. Once you have your list, make a commitment to do one of those things each day for the next thirty days. You might have so much fun you will want to make a list every month! nnnn