In this post: Learning how to have fun again after battling with depression or anxiety, tips to create your ‘fun list’, including fun each day to love your life.
During the recovery phase of my battle with depression and anxiety, I knew that trying to enjoy life more and have fun was an important part of learning to love life again. But it was incredibly hard at first.
Why?
Because I’d completely forgotten what fun and enjoyment felt and looked like for me.
I don’t know if it was because I’d been experiencing depression for a long time or the severity of it that caused the box labelled ‘fun activities’ in my mind to be emptied, but it was bone dry and I didn’t know how to fix it.
It took time and plenty of trial and error to start filling that box back up, but I got there. And you can too!
Here’s what worked for me:
1. Decide
Making a decision on something is a powerful act in itself. It changes your thoughts from just wishing something would happen to taking control and deciding to take the action needed to make things happen.
When you decide to commit to yourself to learn how to have fun again, you are sending a signal to your mind that you are serious about this.
2. Strike the word ‘Failure’ from your vocabulary
Don’t let any feelings of failure stop you from your journey of learning how to have fun again.
You can’t fail if you view any setbacks as part of the process – a lesson from which to learn and progress you even further along your path forwards.
3. Experiment
What is fun for each of us is a personal thing, so it will take some trial and error to learn what is fun for YOU. Why not approach your journey as an experiment, testing things out to see what you enjoy and what brings a smile to your face.
If you don’t find something enjoyable, think about why (maybe even journal on it) and make a note for your experiment. Also be aware that what we find fun can naturally change over time and might be a sign of where we are at in our lives or with our emotions.
Here are some ideas to get you started on trying out things to see what is fun for you:
What used to be fun?
You might want to start by thinking back on what activities you used to enjoy before your ‘fun activities’ box was raided.
What did you enjoy as a child? What did you enjoy before you felt the weight of the world on your shoulders?
Try things that your friends find fun
We tend to hang around people who are similar to us in someway, so it could be worthwhile trying out the activities that your friends find fun. It also doesn’t hurt that just being with your friends could make things more enjoyable in itself!
Dream
Imagine you are ecstatically happy with your life. What are you doing? Who are you with? Let your mind wander and see what comes up.
You might imagine big changes and things that feel out of your reach at the moment, but you might also be surprised at the simple things that you imagine too. Quality time with those who are important to us or simple things that are already within reach.
Stretch your comfort zone
Sometimes we might think of something that could be fun but we immediately write it off as too scary, or out of our comfort zone. Why not work at stretching your comfort zone just a little each week to build your confidence and be open to the possibility of trying more activities.
Learn something new
For me personally, learning in itself can be fun (yes, I’m one of those people 🙂 ) It widens your knowledge base and broadens what is possible for you.
Have a go at learning a new skill and you might just find that it’s something you really enjoy!
Get inspiration from people’s bucket lists
When I was searching for things to try that I might enjoy, I found other people’s bucket lists were often full of of inspiration.
The idea of a bucket list is that it’s a record of what you want to achieve in your life and it often includes a lot of fun activities and significant goals.
Some people have kindly shared what they include on their bucket lists for all to see. Check out the following websites for ideas:
- Bucketlist.org provides not only a list of ideas but a way for you to track them as well.
- Annette of Bucket List Journey has a post with links to a heap of different bucket lists across the web.
- See Sarah’s ‘New Things’ list in her Yes and Yes blog sidebar (you have to scroll down a bit). She creates a new one for each birthday year.
- Celestine of Personal Excellence has a huge post on bucket lists and shares 101 ideas you can try out.
4. Make a ‘fun list’
My last tip for learning how to have fun again is to start and keep a ‘fun list’. This is a record of what you have found fun throughout your day or through undertaking your experiments above.
I have mine set up under the Notes app on my phone so that I can refer to it easily if I’m in a slump and need to do something fun.
This is helpful if I’m in a bit of a negative or pessimistic mood and I’m feeling like nothing will cheer me up.
I can whip out my list and prove myself wrong by taking action and doing something fun. Check out some of the things that make me happy when I’m feeling down here.
5. Include some fun in each day
Now that you know what you enjoy, instead of putting fun times off for someday when you’ve got more time or earnt it (or overcome some other excuse), set aside time each day to do something fun.
It’s important to enjoy life NOW, because when you enjoy life, you are happier within yourself. And when you are happier within yourself, you can achieve more in your life – for yourself and others.
It creates a positive upward cycle rather than the downward spiral that the feelings of depression and anxiety tend to create.
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So, I hope this has given you a framework you can use to (re)learn what you enjoy in life and how to have fun again.
To recap the steps I used to learn how to have fun again are:
- Decide
- Strike the word ‘failure’ from your vocabulary
- Experiment
- Make a ‘fun list’
- Include some fun in each day
The best thing you can do is to make the decision to commit to working out what is fun for you and then give yourself free rein to explore experiences with a fresh, open mind.
I wish you every success on your journey back to fun times and happiness. You are worth it.
Let me know, what activity are you most excited to try after reading this post?
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