Dear Reader,
The question is an important one – are you having fun so far this year? Life is filled with great potential for joy; it is part of the human experience. If we are focusing on a Year of Excellence, fun has to be part of the mix!
In case you don’t feel like you are having fun yet this year – don’t worry. And don’t punish yourself. Remember, no matter what else is going on in your life, you can experience joy in any given moment. Even if you are stressed, you may simply need to interrupt a negative thought pattern first.
How? There are several quick ways, including:
- Taking a full, deep breath, and letting it go. For that moment, focus on you, a human being, simply doing what you do most often and have done since the moment you were born. It doesn’t get much better than that!
- Running your hands under warm water. Our hands, that perform so many tasks for us, are very sensitive tactile and energetic senders and receivers, and they deserve attention. Let any tension drain away with the stream of warm water.
- Thinking of one thing you are grateful for. Gratitude comes from the heart, and when you are grateful, it is difficult to stay stressed.
Once you have taken a moment to interrupt your stress pattern and become more fully present, chances are you will automatically shift into a happier mindset, but you can help yourself along. Focus on a joyful thought or an action you can take immediately, or later, for yourself or someone else. You can simply focus on the word “joy” and let the energy of the word (or a similar word that works well for you) fill you.
The question of having fun invokes an even bigger question:
What does having an excellent year really mean for you? Not what it might mean to anybody else; what does it mean for you? And how are you defining success for yourself this year? Are you even thinking about it? If so, is having fun included somewhere? I hope so! I heard a great definition of success today, from speaker and coach Jim Bunch: Success is living the life you choose to live. That may seem obvious, but as Jim points out, often people feel like they are not living the life of their choosing.
Having an excellent year may include things you want to have, or things you want to do, people you want to spend time with, business goals you want to meet – there is a place for all of that. But hopefully your idea of an excellent year also includes a vision of how you want to be. For me, the deepest and most powerful way to address all of these aspects is to focus on living from my soul. When I am connected to that awareness, I have a sense of inner peace no matter what, and often feel a quiet sense of joy for no reason.
To finish where I started with this post – having fun. Today I had fun when I shared a laugh with the teller in my bank. It was just small talk, but I left the bank with a smile on my face – and part of the good feeling came in knowing that the teller was wearing a smile as well. That’s how simple having fun can be. It only takes a moment.
I honor your loving heart,
John
John, when I read your subject line, two of my core beliefs came to mind:
1) If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doing… and
2) If I’m not having fun, maybe it’s my own fault
In the end, it’s a choice… in a world where tragedy surrounds us, we need to keep things in perspective… we can choose fun… we can choose joy… and, like your experience at the bank, it takes so little effort.
Thanks for sharing!!
Hi John – I agree! We can choose joy. Our lives are all about choice; yet often we don’t see it because we are busy reacting to experience rather than focusing on creating it.
Thanks for your comment!
John