How often do you do something just for fun?
Over my summer break I spent three very happy afternoons sitting doing jigsaws with my mum. That may very well be your idea of hell, but for mum and me it was a lovely way to spend some very wet summer afternoons, working on something together, enjoying each other’s company and talking. There was no real purpose other than completing the jigsaw. There was “stuff” we could have been doing, but there always is. There's always something to finish, sort, tidy, organise. We’d decided to have a staycation and so we let ourselves while away the hours doing the things we enjoy, that are fun for us. It didn’t matter whether anyone else thought planting up pots and baskets with herbs and flowers is fun or whether sitting for hours reading in the garden is fun. For us it’s enjoyable. For us it’s fun.
How often do we let ourselves do something just for the pure enjoyment? If I’m honest my answer is not very often. Yes, I’ve just had a lovely break during which I devoted my waking hours to relaxing and enjoying myself, but how often do I do that during my normal week? Rarely, and that has to change. I realised this during the first few days of my holiday when just being, not constantly doing something useful and productive was killing me. I was on edge and couldn’t relax I was so used to doing and using my time wisely. What does that even mean? What I came to realise is that my priorities are skewed. If I want to be productive I need to have more down time. If I want to be creative and achieve my dreams I have to allow myself to relax and have fun. I need to prioritise the things that make me smile, that bring me pleasure.
I have some clients for whom fun is one of their core values. If it isn’t fun they aren’t going to get it done. So, we work together to ensure that their actions to get them to their goal include things that are fun for them. And that’s a very important point. What is fun for me may not be fun for you. What is fun for you isn’t going to be fun for everyone. I’m an introvert and for me fun does not include rowdy team games – in fact most games, even the most sedate board game tends not to be fun for me. That won’t be the same for all introverts, but it’s true for me. Competition is not my fun.
Do you know what is fun for you? Don’t write that question off. You’d be surprised how many adults have lost a sense of what is fun for them. What did you enjoy doing as a child? There is a very good chance that what was fun for you then would still bring you pleasure now. Why do you think there are so many adult colouring books available? We grow up but it doesn’t mean we grow out of the things that we enjoy.
My biggest learning this summer is that I have to relax more and have more fun. Not as an optional, nice occasional extra to life, but as a central part of my life. So, I’m working on it. Working on what to do, where to fit it in. Life is complicated and so this needs to be intentional or it won’t happen.
Where could you factor more fun into your life or have you got it sussed? Are you a shining example to those of us running around doing all the time and forgetting the importance of just having some fun, or like me, is it something you need to work on?
