What’s fun got to do with it?
We are in the most productive state of our lives right now. We are fueled so much by accomplishing and doing as much as we can in the littlest time possible. When we are done, we have no energy and time for the things that we work so hard for - ourselves.
It is such a simple and yet complex thought of having fun. When we get so wrapped into life and responsibilities, we literally forget how to have fun. We also don’t realize how much of our identity is surrounded by the fun we have.
Think about it - what’s the first question people ask others when we first meet? What do you do for fun? Ever had a hard time answering this question? We can name off interests but I’d like to challenge the last time you actually did your interests and how much “fun” was involved?
Before we go into the importance, I think we need to define what does “fun” even mean? Fun is surrounding the idea of mindfulness. Mindfulness is being in the moment, not thinking about anything else but what’s in front of us, and being completely involved with the task, subject, activity at hand. Fun is defined as a state of action and doing and enjoying your time with the thing you choose to immerse yourself in. These conditions surrounding fun are important to get the full benefits of decompression. This is the biggest skill towards stress management and don’t we need some stress management now more than ever.
Fun allows us to relieve tension in the body. Usually, with anything fun, it gives us a chance to focus on something that’s fluid and comes with ease. We can give our mental capacity a break and allow our mind to free associate and move fluidly through thoughts, emotions, and sensations without resistance.
Laughter is a tension release for the body. Just like crying (which is a tension release), laughter can allow the body to tense (the physical part of laughter) and release which is relaxation after we engage in laughing. Not only do we allow our body to experience an emotion without resistance, which is usually joy associated with laughter, but we can also give our body permission to relieve stress.
Giving structure to the fun by scheduling a planned event that is going to be rewarding for you, anticipates fun which is something to bring us forward. We are so wrapped up in the mundane and doing the day-to-day that scheduling fun can break up the numbing and give us a chance to engage in a more wide array of emotions.
I like to prescribe at least a dose of fun one time a week. It doesn’t always have to be a planned event where you leave the house either. It can be doing a puzzle, playing a board game, walking to the park, having a picnic at the park, watching the stars at night, reading your favorite book, talking with a friend, yoga, enjoying a bath, or shooting hoops. Fun is just as authentic as you are and there is no wrong way of doing it.
Challenge yourself by building a balance in your week but incorporating some fun.
