Category: happiness & fun

Act Your Shoe Size

“A three-year-old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm.” ~Bill Vaughn

You have bills, obligations, and responsibilities.

And there are people who mean something to you: people who believe in you who you’d like to make proud, people who don’t believe in you who you’d like to prove wrong.

You have things you want to accomplish, both for you and your family. Things you want to experience to feel you’ve lived a full life. Things that keep you caught in a place in your head where now feels like no more than a vehicle to a better tomorrow.

Those people and things aren’t going anywhere. You can.

You can go to a place where anything seems possible. Where you see what’s right in front of you and fully enjoy it without stressing about something that happened or hasn’t happened yet.

A place where appearances don’t seem so important—so you play, and act silly, and ask questions, and respond honestly, without censoring or judging your feelings.

A place where you feel good doing things that make you happy, no matter how long they’ll last, because they make you smile right now.

You can’t go back to three years old—and you probably wouldn’t want to—but you can tap into all that joy.

Take recess today.

Give yourself permission to stop worrying and striving. Just be where you are. Focus on the wonder of something simple. Create something and have fun—do it just to have fun. Be curious, and playful, and easily impressed, and open. Even if just for a while.

A small break and a small shift in thinking can make a significant difference.

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September 30, 2009
Log Changes

“The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.” ~R.D.Laing

Have you ever noticed a new business on your route to work only to later learn it’s been there for weeks?

Somehow in the hustle and bustle of your morning routine, you missed an obvious change to your environment. It happens—and often on a much smaller scale.

As we do what we always do, we tend to focus on things we always see and as a result, think the way we always think. Even if you’re the most interesting person in the universe, your world will start to feel stale and dull if you lose sight of what’s in front of you.

There’s a whole lot of change to notice and appreciate, even if you’ve never left your hometown.

New leaves on a tree. A new chill in the air. New neighbors. New excitement at your local playground. New businesses, and billboards, and new solutions to problems. A new bounce in your mother’s step. New energy in your office. New passion within your friends. New perspectives on things that didn’t even change.

Open your eyes just a little wider. You may notice a new layer of beauty in a routine that stays the same.

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September 28, 2009
Unstrange a Stranger

“Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend, or a meaningful day.” ~Dalai Lama

Some sociologists argue that weak ties, the type you form with colleagues and online friends, for example, are the bane of modern life.

Instead of having meaningful conversations that bring us closer to people, we spend much of our time networking with a vast sea of strangers. We keep many interactions peripheral, failing to form the type of intimacy that benefits us emotionally and even physically.

A recent New York Magazine article titled Alone Together challenged this idea since weak ties create possibilities for new and deeper connections.

Seize those possibilities.

Let your guard down. Talk to someone you don’t really know right from your heart. Don’t anticipate hurt or awkwardness. Just be you, in that beautiful way only you can, and give them the chance to open up, as well.

When you believe in people instead of responding in fear, they often surprise and amaze you.

Not everyone will see you. Appreciate you. Get you. But you never know which acquaintance could turn into a friend that feels like home.

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September 25, 2009
11 Ways to Laugh it Off

“If you are too busy to laugh, you are too busy.” ~Proverb

Last night a few of my friends and I went to see Chelsea Handler perform stand-up comedy. Whether you’re a fan of her show on E! or not, most would have found her pretty hilarious. I laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. And you know what? It felt pretty awesome.

Every time I go to a comedy show, probably once or twice a year, I ask myself “Why don’t I do that more often?”

I always have a great time and leave feeling so relaxed and refreshed. I don’t know if it’s the best medicine—depends on what ails you!—but laughter is pretty great. It medicates whatever pain or emotional distress you’re feeling and makes everything seem a little bit better.

Weird but True

As I was reading up about laughter on Wikipedia, I found some interesting and obscure facts. Apparently, in 1962 there was an incident called the Tanganyika laughter epidemic—an outbreak of mass hysteria near the village of Kashasha on western coast of Lake Victoria in Tanzania.

It is rumored that the incident started because someone told a joke in a boarding school that got students laughing. That laughter perpetuated itself, and thousands of people were laughing for months. Months. Crazy, huh? Just shows you how contagious laughter can be!

The Benefits of Laughter (more…)

September 16, 2009