Having and creating fun opportunities is a vital ingredient of a happy and fulfilling life. We tend to only take negative or ‘heavy’ emotions seriously – fear, anger, anxiety, depression, and many more.
However, behavioural scientists have discovered that happy people have learned to make fun a priority in their lives. They also pay equal attention to positive emotions and do not take them for granted. Psychology professor Barbara Fredrickson formulated a theory that positive emotions broaden the mind and contribute to good health and functioning.
Her Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions argues that positive emotions should not replace negative ones but can build resources to cope with negative ones. Negative emotions like fear and anxiety could keep us from danger, but they should not rule our lives. Researchers have found that one should maintain a ratio of at least three positive emotions to every negative one to flourish and live a life of resilience and happiness.
Some typical positive emotions are happiness and joy, pride and satisfaction, love and compassion, contentment, interest and serenity.
One way of teaching yourself to make fun a priority in your day-to-day life is to list activities, memories and moments that make you smile. This list should not be short; instead, it should become a daily habit, almost like a gratitude list.
Try to incorporate at least one fun activity – anything you enjoy doing – into every day, even if you can only do it for ten minutes at a time. (Half an hour or longer is, of course, a better idea…) If you cannot spare ten minutes for a pleasant activity, then try to turn one of the items on your to-do list into fun. A good example is changing the job of sweeping or vacuuming carpets into a stage performance – using the broom as a microphone or a dance partner.
If you want to be happy, make laughing an essential part of your day and do not take life or yourself too seriously.
