By Barbara Pierce
“Live life to the fullest. You have to color outside the lines once in a while… Laugh some every day. Keep growing, keep dreaming, keep following your heart.”
This quote from Albert Einstein caught my attention as I paged through a magazine. I love it!
Lately, I’ve felt that something is missing in my life. And here’s the answer. It appeared as I soon as picked up the magazine in the doctor’s waiting room.
I color within the lines way too much. What would happen if I stopped being so careful about keeping inside the lines? Adding a little fun, a little spice to my life, might take care of that ‘something is missing’ feeling.
I know I’m way too serious; I don’t laugh much these days. I remember how great it feels to have a hearty laugh. I miss that feeling.
I’ve been so caught up with the things I have to do — I frequently check the calendar I carry in my purse to remember the doctor’s visits for myself and my partner that take up more and more of our time, the boring committee meetings I faithfully attend for my volunteer job, the great hoard of phone calls I have to make — the daily tasks that are the drudgery of everyday life.
Though I’m retired, life is busy. So why doesn’t if feel right?
I’m existing in a most responsible, conscientious manner. How boring is that, right?
Yes, I’m definitely missing something. I’m missing fun and laughing. And joy. I know there’s a long list of mental and physical benefits from joy. Joyful people live longer. The positive benefits of fun are well-established.
How about you? How often do you laugh and feel fully alive?
“Fun, feeling exhilarated and lighthearted. Completely present, undistracted by thoughts about the future or the past. Maybe laughing with a friend. Maybe exploring a new place. Maybe being slightly rebellious.” That’s how Catherine Price describes fun in her book “The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.”
If you, like me, are having trouble thinking of a recent moment that fits that description, think about what the experts recommend as ways to get more fun moments back in our lives.
Let me be clear on this: I’m not talking about the many things that we might think of as fun that could also be described as numbing ourselves from our current reality. For example, spending hours mindlessly scrolling our phones, binging on movies or TV, getting high.
First thing we should do, Price and others say, is think about the things that — in the past — made us laugh full on or have that feeling of exuberance, of being fully alive. For me, it was playing “Taboo” with my extended family and laughing so hard I peed in my pants. It was fishing off a boat in Mexico; what I loved was the sun, the water and being with a good friend. Hiking a mountain trail, loving the quiet, the baby ferns and colorful wildflowers growing in the moss. Exploring San Francisco with work colleagues.
They say that fun involves a sense of connection, the feeling of having a special shared experience with someone or something else. Usually, it’s with another person. Research suggests that most of us have the most fun when we’re with others. Sharing experiences with others, especially friends, is more enjoyable than doing them alone.
Seek out new things. Many of our most-fun memories involve activities that feel new. We all like novelty in one way or another. In fact, our brains are made to be attracted to novelty. And it turns out that learning new things makes for a healthier brain, protects against cognitive decline.
Traveling is one of the best ways to live life to the fullest as well as offering a vast array of opportunities to do something new that might turn out to be fun.
Consider creating a ‘fun jar’ or a ‘fun file.’ Write your ideas on a piece of paper and place them in the jar or on your list. When you’re looking for something new to do, draw a slip from the jar or pick an item from your list.
Stop listening to what others want you to do or think or believe. Forget that voice in your head that says: “What makes you think you can do that? You know you can’t!” You can find a way to do most of whatever it is you want to do.
Stop waiting for something to happen to you and go out and make things happen! Taking action toward living the life you want is the way to live life to the fullest.
If you’re not living outside the lines, start. If you’re living outside the lines, keep on!
Barbara Pierce is a retired licensed clinical social worker with many years of experience helping people. If you would like to purchase a copy of her book, “When You Come to the Edge: Aging” or if you have questions for her, contact her at barbarapierce06@yahoo.com.