Who’s Got Time to Have Fun?

 

We do!  And is it ever important.  I used to be acquainted with a person who would say, "Who’s got time to have fun!  There is work to do!"  Yet, I think we do have time for fun.

 

I don’t mean buying a new boat or a condo on the beach.  I’m not talking about traveling across the world. 

 

I’m talking about an attitude.  Having fun is about enjoying the day.  It is about enjoying life.  Having fun is about refusing to get sucked into negative, belly-aching which only drags you down.

 

How can you choose to have fun on a normal day of the week?  The following helps me.

 

1. I can choose to laugh at myself.  Relax!  So you looked silly.  Laugh about it.   How many places have I lost my keys?  How many times have I been walking on a carpet and come to a spot where I stumble?  Yet, I know people who take themselves so seriously, they don’t dare laugh at themselves. 

 

2.  I can choose to enjoy life’s simple pleasures.  The wonderful taste of coffee on a brisk morning.  The aroma and taste of a great burger.  A chip with salsa.  Hearing a child say something funny.  Smelling the aroma of fresh flowers.

 

3. I can choose to be with people who I enjoy being with.  Isn’t it great to be with people who you like?  I had lunch with a friend today who seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing.  I happen to be genuinely interested in him and his life.  How fun to be with a friend like that.

 

4. I can choose to look for the great moments of the day and savor them!   So many people almost habitually look for what is wrong.  They spend their energy throughout the day critiquing this and that person.  How boring!  Why not spend energy trying to catch people doing something right?  Catch them doing what is generous, kind, gracious, etc.  That is fun!

 

5.  I can choose to take a vacation today.  I love vacations.  I have memories of going to the beach, the Smokey Mountains, New Mexico, Alabama, etc.  Great memories of a trip to Washington, D.C. one year.  Sometimes during the day I will go on vacation.  I will think about one of these trips and imagine it all over again. 

 

Hey–I would rather do that than spend my energy imagining the worst.  "Oh my goodness, what if we go broke?  What if we come down with a horrible disease?  What if I mess up?"  On and on it goes.  And don’t you feel great after a good worry (definite sarcasm).

 

Much of this comes down to choice.  Too many people are waiting for the perfect day–the day without problems.  I don’t know when that day will ever come.  (Well I guess I do but you have to die first.)

 

Maybe, just maybe, we can do something about fun.