Lighten-up, eh!
You’ve heard this one before, but what if there is really something to it. Most of us are so busy balancing careers, relationships, teenagers and aging parents, we may have forgotten how to have fun.
As we go from one crisis to another, we tend to find ourselves on auto-pilot rather than living and enjoying every single day. The trick is to lighten-up… before you burn out!
But, you ask, how can I lighten-up? Where do I start?
1. Accentuate the positive. Choose your attitude. Make a list of everything that is good about your life. Greet everyone with a smile and make people wonder exactly what you’ve been up to!
2. Act like a kid again. Remember when life was fun? What were you doing? Who were you doing it with? Go biking. Check out the swings at the park. Run through a sprinkler. Organize a game of hide-and-seek. Now that you’re a grown-up, you can even stay out after the street lights come on!
3. Be spontaneous. When someone suggests doing something, don’t hesitate or evaluate, just say YES!!!
4. Do nothing.
5. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Celebrate your inner child. Blow bubbles. Play the kazoo. Fly a kite. Find an outrageous hat and wear it when you’re visiting a friend in the hospital.
6. Forget about what other people are thinking. Be unique. Be creative. Be yourself! Enjoy every moment because you probably won’t regret the things you did, but you might regret the things you didn’t do.
7. Go for a walk. It’s amazing what you’ll find in your own neighbourhood when you go for a walk. Talk to your neighbours. Admire the gardens. Stope to enjoy a treat in a local shop. Get back into your community!
8. Keep it simple. Stop living to have and start living to become. Clear the clutter from your home and office and create space to grow. Reduce, reuse and recycle.
9. Laugh out loud! Not just a quiet snicker, we’re talking REAL BELLY LAUGHS! Collect silly hats, crazy maskes, animal noses and wear them. Rent funny movies, go to a comedy club or hang out with hysterically funny friends. They say children laugh more than 400 times a day, but by the time we become adults, the total dwindles to 14 times a day. Change the statistics… start laughing!!!
