Time to Play! Why You Need To Have More Fun.
Do you remember your last day?
The last day you darted outside like the Flash to play with the neighborhood kids before the sky turned to dusk. The last time you rode your bike down the driveway calling out for your parents to “Watch me. Watch me!” as you proudly pedaled away, your handlebar streamers blowing in the wind.
As young children, the only thing life required of us was to have fun. Play was our sole responsibility. We relied on it to develop and grow in the early days, and it’s how we began to learn life’s basic lessons. Having fun was effortless. We didn’t think twice about it, and nothing about it was complicated. We just had fun.
But somewhere between the backyard swing-set days and accepting our first 9–5 after graduation — we forgot how to play. We forgot its value and its necessity to our personal success. Or maybe the problem isn’t that we’ve forgotten, it’s that instead of having uncomplicated fun we became experts at excuses.
Do any sound familiar? So how do we tap into the inner child in us all that once upon a time was so connected to having fun? We once lived and breathed it, but now as adults play appears to struggle to have a place in our day.
How do we change our views on fun as an adult and prioritize the need for more play in our life?
When we are having fun, we are happy. And according to much research happy people also:
When we have fun, when we experience happiness, we thrive. The same is also true that we don’t thrive when we don’t have fun and experience constant unhappiness.
We were created with the ability to enjoy and experience pleasure. It’s part of what makes us human — to experience life for more than basic survival. It’s why we enjoy attending a concert, watching a sunset, playing with puppies, or breathing in the incredible views from a mountaintop. Fun isn’t a luxury, it’s a factor of how we live life. We can’t afford to not have fun.
What do you feel when you have fun? What experiences give you those feelings? Having fun isn’t just about bucket list items. It’s more than exotic travels, concerts, and shows, or elaborate Murder Mystery Parties. Most of the time it’s found in the little things. When we choose to see our experiences for the simple play that it is.
It might be in a mid-day dance break to your favorite songs, a beach day with your kids, or a bike ride with friends. Experiencing fun doesn’t require money. It shouldn’t be limited to the experiences of a lifetime. Fun needs to exist every day in some way. Don’t overcomplicate it with perfection, control, and excuses. It doesn’t need to be grand, just have some fun.
The purpose of fun is to experience connection, well-being, and happiness. But not all fun things achieve this. Faux-Fun might be things you go to when you’re trying to avoid stress or procrastinating. Things you choose to do thinking it will inspire or relax you but are usually just a temporary fix that doesn’t leave you feeling much better when you’re done. Maybe even worse.
Binging the latest season of Grey’s Anatomy always seems like just the fun I need, but after 3 hours I’m still haunted by the article I’m supposed to finish. And I’m still lacking the energy to do it. But if I instead went outside for a 30-minute walk, I would feel more energized to get the work done in more than half the time.
My description of fun may be very different than your description of fun. And what counts as real fun and faux-fun is different for everyone. The key is to recognize what provides nourishing pleasure and what doesn’t so that you’re letting the science of fun work for you towards success and not against you towards failure.
A helpful exercise to practice is to ask yourself before you do a fun activity why you’re doing it, and then ask yourself how you feel after.
Why did play become something only associated with children? Having fun is fun! Don’t adults want in on that enjoyment too? Experiencing fun isn’t a deviation from our pathway to our goals and success, it’s part of it. It’s how we connect with others and ourselves, and it’s necessary for our personal and professional success.
When we prioritize fun into adulthood:
For the sake of our state of mind and well-being, we need to stop viewing fun as something negotiable in our life when we become adults.
Today’s most desired currency is time. Everything around us wants our time and attention. But not everything is worth the exchange, and that’s what you get to decide. The truth is we are each the owners of how we spend our 24 hours we get every day. No one gets less, and no one gets more. So the issue isn’t we don’t have time, the issue is how we choose to spend it. If you’re struggling to make time for fun, maybe some things need to go from your schedule.
Here are a few tips to maximize every minute and make space for play and fun.:
You may be in a season of life where the time for fun is limited. But the important thing is that you make the most of what you have. Savor the minutes where you get them and enjoy something fun.
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Time to Play! Why You Need To Have More Fun.
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