Life is too short not to have fun
Even though forever sounds like everyone’s desire but, the bitter truth is, we don’t have it! We are terminal beings, we won’t have all the time in the world so let’s have fun now!
After finishing college, as we were still busy looking for opportunities and jobs I received a phone call from one of my friends informing me that one of our mutual friends had passed on. My first reaction was to be furious with him, how could he joke with something so grave? After a moment I then realized that he was serious as the death itself. Our friend had not been sick, he just had a tummy churning and in 3 days he was gone.
I could not believe this and throughout my struggle to come to terms with reality, I realized death was inevitable. It has no age group or sickness or invitation, it just comes! That’s when I realized that we should have fun because life is too short.
Sooner or later in your life, you’re going to have to face the inevitability of your own death. You can’t dodge the grim reaper, and neither should you stop living your life to the fullest. If you go to sleep, you may not wake up. Even if you do wake up, if you go out, you can be run over by a car. No matter how safe you think you are, death is a visitor that can just knock on your door anytime.
You’ll repeatedly have your heart broken; enjoy the sun, and the moon, eat, drink, and be merry. Instead of being worried about bills, money, the past, the future, people, work, your life, or what can go wrong, face mortality, and go live your life!
What holds people back from enjoying life?
I am glad, in that area, I try to balance. I’m one of the crazy ones who can self entertain, I can make humor out of anything and laugh myself out to the ground. One day we wanted to quickly go to the shopping mall with a certain friend of mine. So I told him that we should try this new route. It turned out that the route took us back to the road which we had just branched from. I was the one driving and as soon as I realized this I started laughing out loud. To my amazement, my friend was so furious. To him, we had just wasted time and gas but according to me, we had just learned the hard way that this road led nowhere. He could not speak to me throughout the whole journey. He was still angry at me for making fun of the situation. This just went on to show me how too seriously people take life.
How many times have you done this? Become furious at something because it didn’t work out the way you wanted. Can you relate to any of this? When was the last time you really had fun? Think about it, the last time you just let yourself go and have a good time? When did you last forget about all your daily responsibilities and live in the moment?
7 Excuses people use to not have fun
1. Being worried about what other people think
You don’t want to look silly in front of other people. You’re afraid they’ll judge you. Guess what? Other people don’t think about you nearly as much as you think they do. To quote Dr. Seuss: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Don’t live for the approval of others, they have their own lives.
2. Thinking they need to spend money
It’s true: Some of the good things in life cost money. But you don’t need to go on a pricey vacation or buy a lot of stuff to have fun. Many times it’s just about being in the moment with the people you care about. And that costs nothing. Check newspaper listings or social media for ideas of fun low-cost activities in your community.
3. Convincing themselves they don’t have the time
There is always time to have fun. I don’t care who you are or how little time you think you have, you can make the time. Fun is found in the little moments, you don’t need to carve out your whole day. Block out a half-hour to do something you enjoy, just for the fun of it.
4. Planning too much into it
The most fun is found in spontaneous unplanned moments. Let things happen naturally. Let yourself experience spur-of-the-moment trips and last-minute get-togethers. Be in the present moment.
5. Mistaking sense of humor for lack of seriousness
As Jim Morrison wrote, “No one gets out of here alive.” You’ve got one life, and it’s short. Enjoy it. It is possible to take something seriously and still inject some fun and humor into it.
6. Wanting conditions to be perfect
Many fun moments occur when things go unexpectedly awry. Allow yourself to be imperfect, and enjoy the imperfections of life. Humans are imperfect creatures, after all, and you’re one of them. Telling yourself, “I’ll have fun when…”, is counterproductive and, frankly, a real bummer. Have fun now—there’s no time like the present.
7. Thinking it has to be big and spectacular
News flash: Every day is not the 1st of January fireworks and parties. You can find fun in small moments. If you think real fun only happens at big events, you’re depriving yourself of some good times. Fun is what you make it. It doesn’t need to be spectacular, by any means. Sometimes it’s found in 5 and 10-minute increments.
As Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.”
- Life is too short to not live for yourself first. Your friends, family, and cohorts may or may not accept the life you want to lead, but doing so is still what you must do if you want to be happy. Or, in other words, if you try to align your happiness with the pleasing of others, you will rarely find a way to make that work. You and I each get only one chance at this life
- You can’t please everybody. When you follow your heart, you will actively displease people. But that’s ok.
- Create a life for yourself that is a reflection of what makes you happy and fulfills you. And do so unapologetically and as the foremost goal of your existence.
Do what you must do. You only get one shot at this life. It’s your life and It’s the most precious thing.
I’m fortunate to be my own person. Throughout my life, I have never allowed myself to live for society. Society has mapped out what it considers the “best” but funny enough the majority of people who have followed this path are miserable.
If you are true to yourself and honest with the world about who you are, then you have done all that you can. The easiest way to make the world accept you is by completely being yourself beyond any reasonable doubt. Live for yourself. The rest will follow.
When we are young, having fun is a given. It is almost impossible not to have fun when you are playing house, skipping rope, riding the merry-go-round at the carnival, or climbing trees in the backyard. As we grow older, we tend to take having fun for granted. Especially during the ‘married with children’ phase, most of us focus all our energy on children and neglect our own selves. Fun is a lot harder to come by as we get older, we can hardly remember the last time we actually exclaimed, “Oh I had a lot of fun!”
- Have an adventure, try out new things, and deviate from ‘routine’. Let this year bring you more fun, life is too short to stop having fun!
- Every single person in the world has hardships, focus on the positives. Everyone in the world has been wronged, so forgive, and let go. Be a child. Keep remembering to admire and enjoy the little things in life!
- Do you know how many years you have left? Weeks, days, minutes? Neither do I. So let’s have fun and enjoy ourselves whilst we can.
I would love to hear from you about your idea of having fun and how you are managing it so please, leave a comment for me below and if you found this useful, please share it with others.
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