For the longest time I believed that fun was an event. I held the notion that in order to have fun one had to engage in some kind of activity that would deliver joy, giggles and/or a lighthearted feeling.

Sometime during the last two years my idea of fun flipped to a state of mind. I didn’t realize I made the switch until a recent conversation with my beautiful friend Bonnie Rymal.

During an outdoor coffee chat she asked me, “What’s new? ”  I told her, “I have found the fun in life.”

I went on to explain that each day no matter what the situation or circumstance, no matter if there were sunshine or clouds, I was finding the fun in my day. Even during the toughest of times I was having fun. I’ve noticed that my Soul was having fun delighting in the adventure of life.

Bonnie was obviously listening carefully because when I stopped my very long answer to her very short question, she tilted her head and said, “So what I am hearing you say is that fun isn’t an event, it’s a state of mind.”

I had never considered fun in that way before but by gosh she nailed it. Fun to me has become a state of mind.

And what a relief. Think about it. If you have been lacking fun in your life and decide one day that today you are going to have fun, imagine the unspoken pressure you put on yourself, people around you, the event you attend to provide for you– fun. Expectations run high and may not be met making that supposedly fun event a disappointing flop.

If you plan a fun event and the people who attend aren’t on the same page as your intention and you are counting on them to help provide the fun, you might walk away irritated, maybe even angry.

If you set aside time and plan on fun and the time becomes a snooze fest, your fun turns into drudgery.

Making fun an event places pressure on everyone and everything around you to provide for you want you want. I’ve done that in the past. The problem is you can’t control people and force them to have fun or be your fun.

So what if you flipped that belief or idea of fun and changed it to fun is  a state of mind. A feeling or position inside of yourself that you can tap into at anytime to experience the whimsy, the laughter, the joy that you seek. You are the only one responsible for it. You determine whether it flies or flops. You can carry it with you wherever you go. That way instead of saying, “I want more fun in my  life,” you simply determine that fun is your state of mind. Then by the laws of the universe fun will follow you wherever you go.

Reflect for a moment on your life. Is fun an event or a state of mind?

~Love, Esther