Letting Go of Burdens – The Art of Fun

Here is the corrected transcript:

Hi, I’m Paul Krismer. I’m your happiness expert, and I am pretty happy today. Like, I’ve had my two sons visiting. Paul Jr. has been in from France. He’s working as my intern this summer. And my son David, who lives in a house in Iowa in Victoria, he’s been here doing some I.T. stuff for me, including building a new website and new videos and stuff like that. So, both really great to have them around, working closely with them day in, day out.

But what’s especially fun is that, because they’re both in Vegas and we’re all under the same roof for the first time in a very long time, we’ve been out having fun. I bought a PS4 so that the boys could play video games while they’re here. So, I’ve been playing video games, which is something I never do, but I’m not bad at God of War. We went to a Las Vegas Aces basketball game, first time I’ve seen the WNBA. It was fantastic, super good entertainment. We went to Fremont Street to see all the inappropriate stuff going on there and the free rock bands playing at different concert venues simultaneously in this amazing part of Las Vegas. And, I don’t know, all kinds of other stuff that we’ve been doing too. My usual stuff, going to hockey and table tennis, and all the kind of stuff that I do that I would call fun.

And the interesting thing about all of that is, at the same time we’re having fun, we’re letting go of the burdens. And I almost, as I was conscious of that as going and doing these activities, almost had this conscious realization that the moment I start these new activities that are designed for fun, I was letting go of the stress that is my day-to-day reality, like all of you. And that’s what this video is about, is letting go of our burden and having fun.

As a coach, public speaker, and best-selling author, I teach topics just like this one all around the world. So stay tuned, and I’ll give you practical tools that you can use to make both yourself and those around you both happier and more successful. Isn’t the reality of our lives that we’re busy, busy, busy acquiring and accomplishing stuff? And we often have this purposefulness that has us considering the future, contemplating what needs to be done, taking care of our to-do list. We’re worrying about that thing that’s sort of out of our control, exposure to disease, how well I did on some exam that’s already passed, right? I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that we often have rattling around in our brains. And if it’s not that stuff that’s worrying about the future, it’s very much the burdensome reality of something in the past that we didn’t quite like and wish had been different. And we replay it and think, “Oh, I wish I’d said this thing,” or “I could have done that,” or “Why did these terrible circumstances come by what seems like bad luck?”

That’s what’s in our minds. In fact, there’s some research that suggests about 80 percent of our conscious thought may be spent on past and future. And that’s not a very real way of living in the now. The living in the now would be just focusing and thinking about what you’re actually doing at this moment. And fun is an immediate way to ground us in the present moment. And so it’s an immediate way to, in a very real sense, let go of our burdens, be freed from our stresses, and our grievances over things that have happened in the past and instead, just be completely in a state of flow with what’s truly happening right now. And fun doesn’t always put us in a classic state of flow that we could define scientifically, but fun almost always has elements of flow where we’ve got focus. There’s usually some kind of challenge or novelty to it that requires a different way of looking at things. And certainly, there’s a spirit of play.

And there’s all kinds of really clear evidence of benefits that come from fun. Here’s just a few: You sleep better, you have less pain even in protracted chronic painful conditions, you get less pain when you’re in the fun state. Fun is energizing, and it keeps you feeling young. It obviously makes you more likable for the people that you hang out with. And indeed, it’s good for the brain. Amongst other things, it actually protects memory. And there are other benefits to this too. But I just thought I’d share some of these pretty important things you get from fun.

So this video’s simple bottom line is to encourage you to go out and have fun. Do things that make you happy, that make you childlike, that put you in a state of play. You know, find some cheap tickets to some place to go see a show. The Las Vegas Aces had tickets that were 10 bucks to be in this amazing stadium watching professional basketball. It was fantastic. The local park awaits you. It costs nothing. Your flower garden is calling for you. You need to go out there and pick the weeds. And I know my friends in Victoria, back in British Columbia, they’re probably wishing that there was enough sunshine to be bothered getting out into their gardens. Doodle, sing, be silly, have a dance party in the kitchen. Whatever it is, try to have some fun. Let down your burdens. And if you like this kind of content, click the like button, share this video with your friends and family, and I will see you next week. Thanks for watching.