I Like It, I Love It

We were leaving the concert as Tim McGraw was finishing up his encore. I could hear the crowd singing, “I Like It, I Love It” as we walked towards the exit hoping to beat the traffic.

I paused at the merch booth. Displayed on a hanger on the wall was a soft, fluffy, white hoodie for sale. In blue letters, it said “Live Like You Were Dying” across the front— my favorite Tim McGraw song.

I pointed at the sweatshirt and said to the woman behind the counter, “I’ll take it!” She had only one left, and it was my size. Within two minutes, I swiped my card and it was mine.

As a general rule, I do not buy concert merchandise. I also do not like hoodie sweatshirts.

But for some reason, I liked it. Actually, I loved it. It looked so warm and inviting. I pictured wearing it on a cool summer night on the boat.

Early Sunday morning, I snuggled up on my couch with a great book: The Power of Fun by Catherine Price. I was sipping on warm coffee and wearing my new sweatshirt. In the book, Price invited me to take a moment and make a list of the things in my life that I consider True Fun: relaxing on a tropical beach, riding a roller coaster, going to a great concert with friends. No two people will have the same list, since each of us has a different definition of “fun.” I was intrigued by the question, and took out my journal to start writing. The author suggests writing things down you’ve experienced in the past that you felt were fun, and also to write things you think might be fun, although you haven’t tried them yet. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Reminiscing about fun moments from the past brought me right back to those times. And they also sparked a few new ideas.

Next, I was asked to consider what activities or experiences I continue to participate in— perhaps out of habit— that are not fun, or maybe are not enjoyable to me anymore. The whole point is to reevaluate the details of your life and to assess how much actual, true fun you are experiencing. Price dives into all the science and psychology of how healthy it is to have fun. I was reading and taking it all in.

What’s great, I learned, is that it doesn’t take much effort to incorporate more fun into your life. You don’t have to choose wild or risky adventures or exotic and expensive vacations. In fact, fun doesn’t have to be lavish or grand at all (although that’s fun too). Instead Price suggests that you “micro-dose” fun— adding a few small things into each day that would bring extra moments of delight for you.

As I sat on my couch, I really listened to her advice. I started to analyze myself in that moment: First I thought about my new hoodie, paired with a warm cup of coffee. I confirmed in that moment that I really love hoodies— and that my silly my reason in the past for not wearing them is that they are boxy and unattractive. Not today… In that moment, I was experiencing nothing but warmth and comfort.

My second realization, in my spontaneous self-evaluation, was kind of surprising: I do not like coffee.

Yet I drink it everyday.

I have been drinking coffee daily for 30+ years. However, on Sunday morning I confirmed for myself that truthfully I don’t like the taste of coffee. I like the concept of it. I like holding a warm mug in the morning. I don’t like coffee’s bitter flavor nor do I like that my tongue feels fuzzy after drinking it. In fact, I can’t wait to brush my teeth as soon as my cup is empty.

Were it not for The Power of Fun, I may have continued drinking coffee for another 30 years.

Fascinated by this discovery, I started looking at other areas in my life with this new lens. Take peanut butter for example. I love peanut butter. But I don’t eat it because my brain reminds me that it’s high in calories. Who cares? I got up from the couch, dumped my half-finished coffee in the sink, and added “Peanut Butter” to the grocery list on the kitchen counter.

Then I went back to my journal and continued the assignment.

Things That Are Fun:

• Playing my favorite slot machine at our local casino, listening to all the noises coming from the machine, and then that adrenaline rush I get when I win— even if it’s a dollar.

• Driving in my Jeep with the top down, singing out loud, with no destination, just enjoying the wind and the music and the feeling of total freedom.

• Breakfast for dinner. Better yet, a hot fudge sundae for dinner.

• Great overnight hotel stays. It doesn’t even matter where. I just love hotels. And top-notch room service.

• My monthly Supper Club. A dozen women come over to enjoy dinner, wine and hilarious conversation. We laugh so hard, all night. So much fun.

My list went on and on. Taking the time to focus on what the author defines as True Fun had immediate impact on me. I gave myself props for how many fun things on my list I make a point to do regularly. And I also gave myself permission to add more ideas, experiences, and adventures onto it.

Learn Spanish. Play the piano. Go to Napa.

How often do you go through your routines without much thought or a fresh evaluation?

What could you add, eliminate, or switch up to make your day more joyful?

I challenge you to think about this with the goal of improving the quality of your life’s experiences. Think big and small. Make tweaks.

In his song, Live Like You Were Dying, Tim McGraw asks “If you knew tomorrow might be the end, what would you do with it? What could you do with it?” His response in the song is to go skydiving, Rocky Mountain climbing, and bull riding. (Seems pretty on-brand for him.)

What about you? How could you build more True Fun into your days, eliminate some of the things you no longer enjoy, and create more moments of delight for yourself and the people you love the most?

As I sit tomorrow morning sipping herbal tea from my coffee mug, I’ll continue asking myself the same question.