To be honest with you I'm not really feeling the energy of Fun Felicia today as here in Sydney it was just announced that we're going into another week of lockdown. Which means life is just blending from one day to the next without much happening; no activities no outdoor things (apart from exercise) so it definitely isn't fun here at the moment.
However when I was out on my morning walk I saw this tiny little bush of Wattle coming out of the trees and it was in full bloom and I thought to myself “that’s Fun Felicia’s flower and she’s who I’m talking about tonight on Wednesday Night Lives”. So I know that was a sign that Fun Felicia’s energy is with me regardless of whether I’m currently feeling it or not.
So as mentioned, Fun Felicia’s flower is Wattle which means increased laughter and a reminder to play, which is very fitting for Fun Felicia.
This week she is encouraging you to ask yourself “what can I do to bring more fun into my life?” even if you are in lockdown. Because at the end of the day everything is a choice that we make, lockdown is a thing you can't stop it. You can't change it, it is what it is. So you can choose how you face that. You can choose to sit and watch TV and do nothing and vege out for a week or you can choose to make the most of the time and do things that you like doing.
One of the things that I love doing is jigsaw puzzles. I'm just spending my evenings sitting there pottering, putting pieces of the jigsaw together, which I really love and I find it really fun.
The thing that I love about it is you take this big picture and break it down into minute detail. When you're doing the jigsaw puzzle, you're really focusing on the detail; this is part of a fence or this is part of a flower etc. Then you search to find the other part of the fence or the other part of the flower to match with it. You put all these little detail pieces together and you end up with this beautiful amazing picture.
I guess it's a bit metaphorically like a Change Journey. You put your goals out there, but then you have to break them down into detail - little steps that you want to do. Then you spend your time focusing on those details so you can move forward. But when you take a step back and you have a look at your journey as a whole, and look at how far you've come, then you see the full picture. (We'll talk about more of that next week when we talk about Proud Pearl).
So I invite you to find what's fun for you and do something this week while you're in lockdown (if you are in lockdown) to do something fun for YOU.
A month ago, I was in full on work mode on a Friday and I was feeling like I wasn't getting a lot done, but I had scheduled to go to lunch with a couple of old girlfriends from school. I pulled a card before I left and I actually pulled Fun Felicia. On that day her job was to remind me to forget all the stresses about running a business and forget about all the things that I have to do, and just go and enjoy myself for the afternoon.
So we had a really nice lunch and it was probably about 3:30pm and one of them had to go and pick up her kids from school. I didn't need to be anywhere else and my other girlfriend said didn’t either and we ended up staying at the pub talking and reminiscing until 8:30pm.
We'd been there since midday, and we spent eight and a half hours, chatting and catching up, and really just enjoying yourselves, and I really feel it was because I'd given myself permission to have fun that afternoon because I had pulled out the Fun Felicia card before I went out.
That's the energy of Fun Felicia… sometimes it doesn't matter how much you've got on your plate. if you can put that aside for a couple of hours and do something that really lights you up and really brings you some joy, then that's great balance for you. It’s rejuvenating and re-energising.
We talk all the time about having not being able to pour from an empty cup. And if you want to really help those around you and support people and be the person that you're going to be, you have to fill your cup up and that comes with doing something that's fun for you.
The reason that we use the word fun is because that means that there is no other purpose to it, so there's no underlying benefit to the activity apart from having fun and enjoying yourself. There is no purpose to it.
With my jigsaw puzzle, there's no purpose to it. I just love doing it, and when I'm finished, I take a photo of it, and I pack it up and put it back in the box. But I've loved the activity, and I have loved to the enjoyment of doing it.
When I sat there that Friday afternoon with my girlfriends having drinks, I enjoyed the moment and forgot about everything else. That's what revitalizes you and that's what Fun Felicia is all about.
So I would really invite you this week to look for something that's fun, whether you are in lockdown or not, maybe you are completely stressed with something at the moment. I would like you to take this week, put that aside for a few hours and do something that for no other reason, you just going to do it because you're going to enjoy it. That could just be having a bath, or it could just be painting your toenails, or something like that, something that is going to give you a little piece of relaxation, enjoyment, and good times without having to feel like you've got an ulterior motive to do that.
When you have fun you’ll reduce your stress levels and increase your productivity. Having fun will help you sleep better and nourish your soul. And I think that's what we all need at the moment… it's winter, it's getting dark early, it's that time of the year where we just need a little bit of nourishing and having some fun and really carving out some time in your week for you to have fun is the best thing that you can do. Please comment and let us know what you do to have fun.