Fun is necessary. We often treat fun as an extra privilege when we find spare time, but without fun in life, it is impossible to find the motivation necessary for health, wealth and responsibility.
Fun can be incorporated in every aspect of life: work, rest, family, etc. It does not have to be reserved for occasional parties or club nights. Alcohol is optional and so is leisure time. Here are a few ideas to help:
- Listen to music. Music, especially the kind that makes you move, can make anything fun, especially with portable electronics such as mp3 players. Whether your driving, shoveling snow, sitting at a desk or tearing up a dance floor, music ads energy, fun and passion to life.
- Skip the relaxation. Contrary to popular belief, laying around and doing nothing tends not to recharge us. Instead, it drains energy and makes us lazy. Meditation and other focused relaxing activities can help keep our lives in perspective, but plopping on the couch after a hard day of work will only make it harder to get off the couch and muddle through the next hard day.
- Turn off the TV. Television is great for a periodic escape, but when most of our leisure time is consumed by television, we may find ourselves missing out on real life and wondering why we don’t have time to do the things we want to do.
- Daydream. Daydreaming fosters creativity and inspiration. It can help us get in touch with our desires and motivations. Daydreams can also consume us and make us feel unsatisfied and ungrateful for real life. We can offset this drawback with moderation and by working to make our daydreams come true from time to time.
- Foster conversation. Have you ever lost track of time in the grip of a good conversation? Whether with a friend, a co-worker or a stranger, a good conversation can provide adventure, passion and a bond with another person.
- Take the scenic route. Whether your commuting to work, running errands or taking the garbage to the curb, find an alternative route. See a different scene. Use a different method of transportation: walk, bike, carpool or take public transport if you normally drive or vice versa. Cut through your neighbor’s yard (not with your car, though… or your garbage).
- Be silly. See Be Silly Every Day for more simple ideas on having fun.