Life is so short…

[celestialinter0]

We all, at one time or another, have pretended to be a rock star, singing and dancing along to our favorite song. Most of us have done this in the privacy of our own room when we were kids and as adults, in the privacy of our homes. Me? I love to do that when I drive! I turn on the radio, find a song that I can sing along too and pretty soon my arms are in the air and I am moving along to the rhythm. Most of the time, I do this on my way to work.

Yes, that is true. I will be in my nice work clothes, jamming while driving or stopped at a traffic light. I get weird looks from some people and others laugh. Personally, I love to get lost in the rhythm of a song which leads me to share with you the importance of being silly! 

The definition for the word silly, according to the dictionary is: stupid, foolish and nonsensical. I know many people do not want to look foolish. So they walk around all serious, which in all honesty, is foolish! 

No one is perfect, I repeat: no one is perfect. I don't care how educated, how thin, how beautiful, how simple, how frugal, how rich, and so on… No one is perfect! So why pretend to be something you are not? 

Life is so short… You never know when this beautiful journey will be over, so why waste a single second on being so full of rigidity? Here is a quote by Souza, that I think says it all and is a great recipe for life:
    “Dance as though no one is watching you,
    Love as though you have never been hurt before,
    Sing as though no one can hear you,
    Live as though heaven is on earth.“

When we were kids, we had no idea of what limitations were and we had no care in the world so we could do things without worrying about how we appeared to others. However, as we grew up, we lost that childlike innocence.

So don't lose the child that still lives within you. The next time you feel down, go turn on your favorite song, and sing and dance along like there is no tomorrow. Or watch something that makes you laugh. Laughter is the best medicine to whatever ails you and nothing is better than laughing so hard that your tummy hurts. Trust me, you will feel a whole lot better, and who doesn't want to feel good? 

[arctoph_49]

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".

A bit of fun is essential, as evident from the video.

I think everybody deep inside likes to have some fun now and then, and trying to always be serious makes them not only dull, but also grumpy in most cases.

[arctoph_49]

Just to add to my previous post before starting work...

I think it is true that it does not matter if you do it right or not if it is for fun (like dancing in the street). It is really about having fun, not being professional. Being professional is for work. Fun is just fun and being yourself.

[papermoon.lady]

Yes, if you worry too much about it, it is not funny any more.

[domino-710]

Fun - should always be just bubbling under the surface.

[papermoon.lady]

Maybe... instead of being given meds that sometimes have horrible side effects, people with depression should be involved in some fun activities to overcome their dark thoughts. It might be a bit more difficult for them than for normal people at first, but slowly they might really feel better.

[springyzone]

I think one of the worst thing we can teach kids is that if they work hard, they can be or do anything they want and that anything you do, has to be done well or to the best of your ability.

You can't necessarily be or do anything you want, no matter how hard you work for it.

And sometimes 'good enough' is fine.

Sometimes we don't need a challenge either, we just need a cruisy day.

Papermoon, not sure about the fun activities for depression. I guess some of them might help but it depends on the type of depression & depth of depression I think. We have been dealing on and off for 3 years with a sister in law suffering from it. She is in a psychiatric hospital right now after an overdose and she had had a fun day doing something she enjoys. But sometimes with depression, if a person feels they are useless and would be better off dead and they are scared of the future, it can be so hard to overcome that.

In fact, there have been times I have wondered the opposite-if maybe instead of activities for them, if they engaged in activities where they were helping others in some way, if that might help (with mild situational depresion.)

I don't know the answers but I think sometimes continuous dark thoughts might be a chemical imbalance in the brain & medication is needed.

[papermoon.lady]

Yes, springy, it is definitely not the same for everyone. I don't even know what would be good for me for example, but I don't think meds don't make many people happy (particularly in the case of depression caused by traumas), and survival is not everything. You are right - there is definitely a big difference between depression caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and depression caused by traumas of course, and medication can help with chemical imbalances.

Personally I don't like fun either, but I do like to help others, so you might be right. It would probably be important in such cases to have someone who monitors the situation, just in case other people you work with (or for) don't understand and make things worse.

All the best to your sister-in-law!

[arctoph_49]

It depends on the cause of the depression, and a good doctor is essential too, and sadly very few people are happy with their psychiatrists. That's why many people don't even tell them what really oppresses them, and of course they don't get better.