How to Find Fun in Life
Rev. Liza Marquez
“The purpose of life is to ENJOY IT.” ~Thomas Troward
What if we made Thomas Troward’s statement an edict to live by? What if finding joy is a mandate for our lives. Better yet, what if Life’s real mission is NOT to “find” the joy, but to be IN the JOY…to Enjoy it? Would you move through the world in a different mindset?
Our theme for this month at the Global Truth Center is FUN! And FUN is nothing more than a state of mind. The dourest person could have a terrible time at Disneyland while the most cheerful one could be completely entertained at an accounting convention. Much like everything else, FUN is a matter of perspective and a way to approach Life.
Unfortunately, it seems, the older we get, the further away we move from the notion that FUN should be a staple in our lives. We are conditioned to believe that FUN is a luxury to experience only after all responsibilities are checked off the to-do list. FUN equals slacking off, and that’s counterproductive to a successful life…or so we are trained to believe.
Author Alison Bonds Shapiro, who works with stroke survivors and their families, says, “If I deny my capacity to have fun, I deny my awareness of what my body needs to thrive.” Shapiro continues, “We are designed for it (FUN).” Imagine that! We are designed to have FUN. That sounds like a wonderful mandate to me.
Dr. Bruce Lipton emphasizes the need to alleviate stress in the body by incorporating harmony and pleasure into our lives, which in turn produces the feel-good hormones dopamine and serotonin. Essentially, having fun, being happy, and experiencing joy are cycles that feed themselves and therefore create more of the same experiences...fun, happy, joy!
But how can we approach our daily lives with joy and fun when many things seem to be so mundane? Like a muscle, FUN must be exercised. We must release any notion that we can only experience fun, joy, pleasure only after we have accomplished something.
Consider drawing your attention to a time, place or situation that brought a smile to your entire body. Feel your energy expanding with bliss. Now anchor into that feeling. Make that anchoring feeling a feeling you continue to recall during those “mundane” times. Eventually, that feeling becomes the mindset by which you create from — the more you practice evoking it.
And, if we are creating and reinforcing this feeling, we are no longer needing to “find” the joy or happiness or fun, we are simply experiencing it because we are it. Now, imagine operating through life in the flow of joy. Allow yourself to be IN the JOY of Life…Enjoy Life!
