Fun 6 months later

In my OLW class, our assignment this month was to answer some questions about how we were doing with our word halfway through the year.

I have found the experience to be much more educational than I had imagined.  In fact, I had not imagined that it would be educational at all.  I just thought the word would serve as a reminder - our family motto for 2013.

However, first I realized that in order to measure whether I was having fun, I had to define what that even meant.  And I realized I didn't quite know.  Of course I know when I'm having fun, but it was hard to put it in words or to find a path to get to the fun.  That's when I did the "vision board", and at the same time Mike sat down with me and led a brainstorming session.  This helped me verbalize something I already knew...that fun doesn't have to be big.  Simple everyday activities CAN be fun, so I have to make time for them.

Choosing the word also led me to reading a few books on the subject.  Well, one book specifically on fun, and 2 books about happiness, which is kind of like fun.

Our word is fun, but my real goal/motto is fun every day.  And I've been 97% successful so far this year.  Thinking about it and making it a goal has actually worked.  Comprehending that small things can be fun has been key.  Before OLW 2013, if I had 30 minutes of free time I might not have chosen to do something fun with that time.  I might have thought "I can watch TV when I'm dead" and then gone off to do some boring work or laundry or something.  Now, if it's late in the day we haven't had our required fun yet, it's absolutely a priority!  In fact, in my book on fun, it presented the concept that you should schedule your fun first thing in your day, kind of like "dessert first". 

Something unusual about this project is that I've noticed it's almost easier to schedule the fun when we're having a hard time, facing a hurdle.  That's when I'm most thinking, ok, things are grim, let's have fun.  (I know my grammar is really sucking tonight but guess what I don't care.)  On the more mundane days, it's easier for the fun to slip my mind.  But I have my necklace and Mike reminds me, and I do some journaling to help record what we did every day.