THE POWER OF PLAY

HOW FUN ARE YOU?  How much do you prioritize enjoying yourself in everyday moments in life? Do you love what you do?  Can people relax around you and know that being with you will be FUN no matter what.  FUN. The other "F" word people really need daily.  If we cannot be fun, and value fun then being creative will be unsustainable. 

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​It’s hard to admit that in the past I have taken myself far too seriously.  I even have a PhD to prove this point. Born bi-racial into a large and often chaotic family I have had severe insecurity issues I had to overcome. At 19 I was a victim of a violent traumatic incident where a stranger tried to rape me and abducted me. I got out of a moving car to escape and I lived and he went to jail as it was his third felony.  So, after all that I had two basic choices or so I thought – addiction or achievement. I picked the second one. (It was a toss up really but that’s another story).
If you have had Psychology 101 you know how this ends us so I won’t bore you. But humans who do not evolve end up with the choices of fight, flight or play dead.  It takes effort to move our brain onward to other choices.  Like play.
Taking ourselves too seriously and burying ourselves in addiction or achievement is painful. I ended up divorced, stressed, ill, overweight and in debt. NONE OF THOSE THINGS ARE FUN. Now, I did a great job of covering up my misery by continuing to achieve and attain things that are difficult for most people.
I’m not alone on this fast track to emptiness I know. A staggering 85% of Americans allegedly don’t like their job. Think back to when you went into a store and someone was rude – bet they were in the 85%. You saw a doctor who was rude or impatient, a mechanic who talked to you like you were a moron, a teacher who was uncaring about your kid being bullied…I could go on all day on this one but again, I don’t want to bore you.
So where are you? Do you spend your day doing things you love or are you serving time in the 85%? 
Another staggering statistic is the number of people who are unhappy in their relationships. The divorce rate at 66% give you a clue on this but – how many of those still in a relationship are glad to be there?  How many people are single due to abuse, addiction, bankruptcy, cheating, lying, neglect, abandonment, cruelty, lack of intimacy and many other unpleasant ways people make each other suffer.
We are not here to suffer. 
And yet we do.
So this is where I come in. Are you having fun yet? I don’t just mean for holidays or once in a blue moon?  I mean daily, hourly, minute by minute. 
Is so, this is good. If not, are you ready to not just have fun, but be fun?
If NO. Then stop reading and go back to whatever un-fun things you were doing. But, if you are really ready to feel the deep and fulfilling joy of being alive, then read on.
Try these approaches:

1. Do you recall what was fun when you were a child? Cars, dancing, drawing, reading books…anything on your radar about that?  If so, give any of those things a shot. It’s a good chance that you

·    Do you find yourself envious of anyone? Someone who kind of annoys you? Why do they have something you want? Could you get that ‘something something” for you?  Follow your jealousy and you might learn something about yourself for example: “Nadia is always so stylish.”  Okay, you probably don’t say that but if you did, this tells you that being more stylish would be FUN for you.
·    Find a play mate. Ask someone to do something fun with you. Join a meet up. Invite people to do what you care to do or have never done before. Have a maiden voyage and go do something new or even silly.
·    Have a cultural date. Do something interesting. Look at new book – they are free at the library. Go to a gallery most are free or very little admission.
·    Look online and learn something. Watch a TED talk. Expand your mind. Pick something you have always wanted to do and start doing it. You don’t know how much time you have – start now.
·    Plan a trip. Go anywhere new but go somewhere. Walk, bus, car, bike, trike, plane or train…see new things you don’t already know.  (Join us on a retreat!)
·    When do you recall being most happy in life as an adult? What were you doing? (Or who were you doing?) What was going on then?  Can you remember what was fun about it?
·    When did you turn your back on fun? Did you make bad choices and fun became something unhealthy or hurtful to you of other people?
KEEP THIS IS MIND; THE FIRST RULE OF FUN is “FIRST DO NO HARM”.
Fun can also be free. For example, an amazing 90 % of people’s day is spent indoors. Now indoors can be nice (I hope) but there is nothing inside to compare to nature.  Can you go for a walk or run or just even sit (I am really not asking too much of you am I?)  But get outside. If it’s raining, jump in puddle, if it’s sunny wear fun shades, if it’s cloudy lie on your back and look up at the sky.
Are you getting this?
Stress is literally killing us all. The hormone Cortisol is literally killing us all, making us fat, anxious, broke  and miserable on the way to that death.
THE FUN STARTS NOWI dare you for the next seven days, do something fun every day. After that I want you to try to do something fun twice a day. Get to where you do something fun hourly and have stopped things that aren’t fun.
Let me know how it goes. The world needs more fun people. The world needs you to be fun. There are enough jerks already making everyone else miserable. Be a rebel. Love your life.