I have been thinking a lot about “fun” recently.
While I have had ups and down over these past few months, 2020 has strangely been a good year for me. I have spent it with the one person I care about the most in life, I have had the time to indulge in hobbies I previously did not have time for, and connect at a deeper level with people that matter the most to me.
All of this has been fun, but not my usual type of fun. I have normally had Type 1 fun, where things give me instant gratification. An enjoyable meal, hanging out with friends, etc. Or Type 3 fun…the type where it is fun in the moment but you regret it after the fact (too many to list!).
I realise now that I have never really had Type 2 fun. The type of activities that you hate every minute you are doing it, but when you look back at it you think about it fondly. Over the past few months I have been doing things of my own volition. No one has planned events or invited me to join them for any social activities, no one has peer pressured me into doing something. For the most part, there has been no need for me to take into consideration anyone else’s preferences while deciding what activities I want to do.
With complete freedom, I have spent my time doing things that I have not been very good at. For example, Yoga is one such thing. I am terrible at it (I was worse at it a few months ago), I hate doing it. Every single time while I am doing it, I ask myself, why I am doing it. I remind myself how terrible I am at it. I mock myself at the ridiculousness of my practicing yoga. But without fail I am always glad I did it, after the fact. There has not been a single time where thinking back to my yoga practice I tell myself “that was a complete waste of time”.
I have come to like this type of fun. So, going forward think I will include more of Type 2 fun in my life.
It doesn’t have to be “fun” to be fun.