How to focus on having more fun
Making life easier

Having more fun can have a multitude of benefits. Having fun actually leads to less stress, a higher self-esteem, a greater appreciation for what you have, and a more exciting outlook on life.
There’s just something about being a kid that never gets old, right? When we have a positive experience, a certain level of dopamine is released in our brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that controls the brain’s reward and pleasure centers.
Making time to have fun in our daily lives can sound simple, but it can have a significant impact on the way that we view the world.
As I get older and the years progress, I cannot help but notice that life doesn’t seem to slow down. I think this is okay, as long as I recognize it and challenge myself to have some fun and laugh every day.
With how busy this life continues to get, I think it’s becoming easier to take more things for granted. The people that we see every day become so much apart of our routine, that we often forget the impact they make in our daily lives. The home that we reside in becomes a never-ending project that adds to our stress. The job we hold gets worse every day until we’re desperately struggling to just make it to the weekend. The list goes on.
If we don’t take time in the middle of this seemingly agonizing routine, we become lost in focusing on how to make everything better, instead of focusing on how good things already are. Being able to add humor, laughter, and fun in our daily lives could make all the difference in the way that we actually viewour daily lives.
“While you’re going through this process of trying to find the satisfaction in your work, pretend you feel satisfied. Tell yourself you had a good day. Walk through the corridors with a smile rather than a scowl. Your positive energy will radiate. If you act like you’re having fun, you’ll find you are having fun.”
-Jean Chatzky
I think what we will discover is that we can choose to change our mood. We aren’t victims of ourselves. In fact, I think we create the very situations that have us not givin’ a crap after a while. The challenge in all of this is being able to come out of that hole and find a way to have some fun throughout the day.
Movies even do it sometimes. During sad or intense moments during a movie, someone might say something really funny that makes you laugh. It’s called comic relief. It happens to give you just that, relief through comedy because the producers understand the emotional stress that a scene can bring.
In the same way, we need to interject some comic relief into our lives. Once per week might not cut it, either. We may need to introduce comic relief into our lives daily. Sometimes a smile can be hard to bear, but in the midst of the same old routine, a smile, a laugh, or some fun might be the thing that pulls you from the discouragement of complacency.
Real quick — a few things that help you interject comic relief or some fun into your life:
- Smiling
- Other people
- Gamesmanship
- Not sweating the small stuff
Smile
By smiling every day, even through the frustrating parts, we release that chemical that I mentioned earlier, and it creates a positive experience for us moving forward. The saying, “fake it til you make it” has some truth to it. If you pretend that you’re happy, smiling often, most of the time that will lead to positive vibes throughout the day.
Sometimes I find that “smiling through it” is the only way I can manage cringe-worthy situations. At the very least, smiling is welcoming to others and it can be infectious. By smiling throughout your day, you’ll most likely see situations in a more positive light, laugh more, have a higher self-esteem, have a higher chance of actually enjoying your day, and see more smiles yourself. All good things!
Other people
It’s no secret that we become more like the people that we often spend our time with. If we choose to be around negativity a lot, we’re most likely not having a bunch of fun every day. On the other hand, if we choose to be around people that like to make others laugh, then we’re probably going to laugh and smile a heck of a lot more.
This is pretty self-explanatory, but not to be simply brushed over. I’ve stressed several times in the past that the people we surround ourselves with is critical to our development and success. If we want to begin having more fun, we’re going to have to ensure that the people in our life have similar goals. If you look around yourself and you see negativity and people feeling sorry for themselves, then you should do your best to remove yourself from that environment. Other people can be critical when it comes to having fun. Ultimately, you get to choose.
Gamesmanship
This is a word that really means, winning while using different tactics to gain a psychological advantage. I’m using it purely in a competitive sense, though. Everything is more fun when you add competition to it, right? When something becomes a game, we’re instantly intrigued because it means that we get to be challenged and have an opportunity to conquer something.
I remember back in the day mom or dad used to say, “Eric, go get the mail”. Truthfully, I didn’t want to trek down that long driveway when I knew there was nothing in there for me. Until they said, “I’ll time ya”. Oh snap! My mind would instantly be consumed with my last time and if I could beat it.
It made a boring task fun, to say the least. It added a competitive hook to the job of getting the mail. When you add competition, something becomes goal oriented. Something becomes fun. Try it out cooking a new dish in the kitchen sometime. Someone make an entree, someone make dessert, see which one is more delicious.
Not sweating the small stuff
If you want to get stressed out about the smallest things, go ahead, but it doesn’t sound fun to me. I’ve been there. Sweating all of the little details every day becomes exhausting. How will you ever be able to relax and have a little fun? The short answer is that you won’t.
There are too many things that can lead to unhappiness — greed, envy, jealousy, etc. You don’t need anything else contributing to that pool of things that will just exist to bring you down. Life is short. You have to just let go sometimes and take the hand you’re dealt in every circumstance. It won’t always be easy. But in order to relax, exhale, and have fun, you need to stop sweating the small stuff. Use the first 3 points in this article to help you do that.
Once you start having more fun, you’ll naturally let go of the stress in the details. Then it’ll continue in a cycle until you’re chronically having a good time. That folks, is where you want to be.
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