FUN IS ESSENTIAL

When I tell people that I want to have fun, some will look at me with askance, others with shock and others with bewilderment. I guess some people must find the word fun unsuitable and unbecoming. They think that having fun is not proper! There are people who believe that you should be serious all the time. What they fail to understand is that if we just concentrate on our work and responsibilities, we will develop stress and worries. We will not have any enthusiasm for anything.

We define the word fun as pleasure, enjoyment or entertainment. To have fun means to enjoy yourself . We can relate a number of other words to the word fun. These include satisfying, humorous, laughable, hilarious, merry, exciting, conviviality, revelry, agreeable and stimulating.We need to experience all of this. It will make our days invigorating. It will make your life fabulous! You will live life and look forward to each day with anticipation and joy.

Playing and having fun develops creativity. Many great artists, sculptors, scientists and philosophers like  Picasso, Einstein and Jean-Paul Sartre engaged in play extensively. Through play they discovered ideas, art and adventure. Have fun with your friends by playing a prank on them. Do the bird dance or the hokey cokey.

Fun experiences will not just happen. They will not just appear in your life. You cannot  sit around waiting for things to happen. You have to consciously create these experiences, realize them and bring them about! We need to take action! So what should we do?  I suggest the following:

Start with yourself and work at being a fun person. To be a fun person you need to be inviting, interesting, open and expansive. Start by reaching out to others and build good relationships. Get to know as many people as possible. Care for them. Be excited about other people, their lives, the work they do and the way they live their lives. It takes time to work at this. Talk to people you meet. Forget your inhibitions and just be friendly. I love talking to people and finding out about them. Not in an inquisitive manner but in a way that makes them know that I care. I do this with everybody, the doorman at the hotel down the road, the beauty therapist, the salesperson and acquaintances.

Look for people with a sense of humour and who have an interesting insight on life. Do this at your workplace, at your home and community. Learn to laugh at yourself. Engage in humour. Read funny stories, crack a joke with your friends and use witty expressions.

Draw up a list of activities, items and even people whose company you find enjoyable. Recently my spouse  whom I shall refer to as His Highness, decided that we would invite new friends and reach out to other people than the ones in our circle of friends. So we planned a dinner party with two couples we had just met and who did not know each other. It was a fabulous evening and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Plan each day to include a fun activity and/or interaction with some fun person. Include time to perform acts of silliness. Instead of doing the same old thing day after day, do the unexpected. Surprise someone with an unexpected gift. Go for a walk or meet someone for a drink. See a funny movie. I very often sit and watch funny movies with His Highness and with my mother who is eighty eight.  The pleasure that we three experience as we roar with laughter is most delightful!

Dance on the table or the bar top if you feel like it! Plan and organise a fun event. Many years ago the organisation of which I was a member appointed me to take charge of the discotheque that the club had set up for the members. It was such fun to plan events and activities for the disco. I worked with the Disc Jockeys and we organised a Red Night; a Hats Night; a Margarita Night, an Elvis Night, a Rock and Roll Night, and so on. To encourage the members I would dress according to the theme and I would be at the disco greeting people! As the night went on and as the music stimulated everyone, I would jump on one of the big speakers and dance on it. Not quite your skillful average “Go Go Girl” but I danced with passion and style! There was always one male member who was a banker who would stand on the other speaker and dance away. Together we encouraged the people present to dance and to have fun!

Try planning a block or street party or a dinner party in your home. I can assure you that you will have such fun planning the details for the party. As you work with others in your team to organise fun activities for others you will have such fun and an exciting time, a time that will be most satisfying.

We can have fun in every activity in life. Important activities in life might include bringing up children, developing a career and undertaking community service. Relax, have fun and show enthusiasm in all that you undertake. Be excited about life. When you wake up in the morning, look forward to the day. Start by telling yourself that the day will be great and that you will have much fun throughout! Try new and novel ways of doing things. Acquire new skills and have fun as you do so. Regard life as one big adventure. Live life and have fun!