When was the last time you just let go, let loose and became a kid all over again?
When was the last time you were laughing so hard that you couldn’t catch your breath and tears streamed down your face?
When did you last do something that made you feel a sense of awe and wonderment, that intense enthusiasm at the wide open possibilities of something new? That breathless, giggly excitement when your whole face couldn’t stop smiling and every time you looked at your friends you couldn’t help laughing with the thrill of it all.
You kept talking and yelling over the top of each other because you were all having so much fun. You forgot about lunch, you forgot your parents had told you to do your homework or feed the dog. You couldn’t leave yet. Tearing yourself away was impossible, not when we were all having SO MUCH FUN!!!
Grown-ups are serious.
As “grown ups”, I don’t think we do that very often. Let ourselves go in the moment. Leave everything else because having fun right here and right now is all consuming, the only place we want to be and so then it is the only place we allow ourselves to be. Homework can wait, the dog can wait (ie. emails can wait, cooking dinner can wait). Life can get so serious and it creeps up on us. Suddenly you wake up one morning and realise, I’m not having fun anymore. Where has that childlike joy gone, the wild abandon, the bursting with excitement when looking at your day and thinking it is one good time after another?
Remember what is was like…
Remember what your body felt like as a child. Loose, springy, energetic and vibrant, always looking for the next bit of fun you could find. You didn’t waste time thinking about the next job around the house or the next item on your to do list. When did you loose that childlike abandon? When did you become so sensible? When was the last time you laughed so hard, your stomach hurt, you couldn’t breathe and you almost wet your pants?
Can you absolutely immerse yourself again in remembering those experiences? Can you capture for a minute the abandon you used to feel, the pure delight?
There is so much power in this act. You connect to your inner child (he/she is still in there), you let go of any stress you might feel, the world becomes a more friendly place and most importantly so do you.
Below is a list of things to recapture that feeling of being silly, footloose and fancy free. Feeling like a big kid all over again. I have done them all. It was great to meet up with little Shona again. I’ll be hanging with her a bit more from now on. She is really fun!!
Try these;
* Pull funny faces at yourself in the mirror.
* Dance crazily to some music.
* Laugh hysterically at your own joke.
* Arm wrestle with your kids.
* Run, skip or jump in a silly way.
* Teach your family the funny rhymes you used to say with friends at school. (Remember that one that always made you laugh.)
* Sit in a field full of daises and make chains, drape them in your hair and around your neck, wrist and ear. Feel like a princess for an hour.
* Play tip or Red Rover Cross Over (British Bulldog to you maybe).
* Make a jump for your bike and see who can get the farthest.
* Cuddle the dog, then throw a ball for as long as they like.
* Read lying on your bed with a plate of biscuits and milk next to you.
* Throw rocks in a creek. Watch how far the ripples flow out.
* Ride your bike everywhere.
* Go and play on the swings at the local park. Can you still hang upside down on the jungle gym? (I tried this recently, it was bit stiff and awkward but I managed it!)
* Roll around on the grass.
* Have a picnic in the back yard.
* Do a somersault, a cartwheel or a headstand.
* Run a race with your kids.
* Hold a carnival and have three legged races, tug of war, wheelbarrow, sack and egg and spoon races. Decorate with bunting, flags and streamers and eat sausage sandwiches. (We did this for my sons 8th birthday and invited his whole class – I think I had as much fun as the kids – maybe even a bit more if I’m truthful!!)
* Go swimming and see who can stay under water for the longest, swim between each others legs, throw a ball around, do handstands underwater.
* Go to the shop and buy the lollies that were your favourite. Eat them just as you did as a child. (Maybe licking off all the chocolate then slowly sucking the chewy centre till it dissolves).
* Tickle someone.
* Hide from your kids and when they walk past jump and out yell “BOO!!” (So fun).
* Get out a skipping rope and jump!!
* Build a cubby house (even if its out of chairs and blankets on a rainy day).
* Roll down a grassy slope or get cardboard, sit on it with someone and then slide down.
* Make a waterslide in your backyard with a tarp and hose.
* Lie on your back, feel the warm sun on your face and look at the clouds.
* Jump on a trampoline.
* Blow bubbles.
Alright then, what are you waiting for, off you go.
Have fun. But don’t forget to be home by tea time!!
hey shona, thanx for these tips..are u surprised that i do act out some of them. One that i am very proud of …well it was last year… i skateboarded down murphys ave with my dog on lead at full pelt beside me. My son was in tears, thinking i was going to kill myself. I dont think he believed me till then that my main form of transport for many years, as a city gal, was a skateboard, of course that was a 100 years ago. And yes i have slowed down. But i still jump out of cupboards and say BOO! Keep sharing the love xxx
Hey Annie, THAT IS AWESOME. I can totally see you doing that!! A few years ago when on holiday in Byron Bay , I got around the whole week on a scooter. It felt great and people just grinned at me all the time.
Gotta keep it fun!!
S. xx
Hey Shona! love the blog! I love how you say “be home by tea time” Mine is “when the street lights come on be at the door ” Have done loads of your things to try- But many many more to try /do ….Byron Bay is cool ….I had a few beautiful years on a farm in Mulumbimby , what a magical place that is! Thanks for your tips ( just went and jumped on trampoline !) It hurt as I chopped tree down previous day !
Much luv
Meg
X
Hi Meg, Thanks for reading and I’m so glad you like the blog.
Good to hear you’ve tried lots of these things. My kids love it as I’m sure yours do.
Thanks for the comment.
S. xx
Wonderful ideas, Shona. Indeed our naturally exultant nature never goes away it just lies dormant if we don’t wake it up. Little wonder we learn how to walk & talk before age six. Our incredible capacity for marvelousness in uninhibited at that age. When we become conscious of this capacity to achieve and express, we begin trusting ourselves all over again.
Hi Shona, love your site! What a great list of suggestions ( I”m printing it out) and in lieu of hanging upside down on a swing set ( no longer have one available as my kids are all in their twenties) I am going out to try a cartwheel on the lawn right after this…
Hi Shona, I love your guest post at Virgin Blogger Notes. Well done on reinventing your blog. It looks great! Onward and upward.
So glad that you hung in there, Shona–great looking blog and thanks for the upbeat Virgin blogger notes. Good content and good intentions should get you where you need to go.
Beth
Hi Rob, that is so true. I like to think that child-like exuberance is still in everyone, though sometimes as you say, dormant. I really believe if you can bring it out again life improves immeasurably. Thanks so much for your great comment.
S. xx
Hi Dianne,
Wee hee!! Wish I was there to join in!! Have fun with the list and thanks so much for your comment. Good luck with the list.
S. xx
Hi Alison, So glad you liked my post at Virgin Blogger Notes. It was a tough time but, you know, you get over things.
I’ve seen your name on the forums at the A List blogging club, so as a fellow club member it’s nice to meet you!!
Thanks for you lovely comment,
S. xx
What a lovely thing to say, thanks Beth!! Nice to meet you and really appreciate your thoughts.
S. xx
Hello Shona,
I just happened upon your blog – and I’m so glad I did! You have a refreshing blog – reading this article and your list of things to try took me back to my childhood.
As kids, we knew how to have fun … we knew how to create our fun and your list proves it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane as well as your reminders to keep a measure of fun in our daily life … I’m all for having a regular dose of “belly-laughs”!
I will certainly be back! Oh, and your tribute to your sister-in-law was touching … what a beautiful gift you gave her!
Peppy
Hi Peppy (cool name!!)
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad it reminded you of fun times. And of course having a blog about being happy, joyful and contentment, I totally love a good belly-laugh!!
My sister-in-law did like her surprise but I laughed when she wrote she took the “ugly cry” to a whole new level.
Great to meet you.
S. xx
Great blog – loved this one – fantastic photo – really captures the essence of the fun your talking about. I try to have fun as a daily portion in my life. My little niece and I do all sorts of stuff – rock hoping, exploring new places, blowing bubbles with the dog and spot lighting in the back yard at night. Its great fun for me seeing a child become an adventurer…..
Hi Berenice,
I know what you mean about having some fun everyday, and being a bit childlike on occasion. I really do think we take ourselves a little too seriously sometimes!
Thanks for your comment,
Shona.