As most of you know by now, 2019 was one of the hardest years of my life! You can read more about it on this post to get in on the details! Despite it being a very difficult year for me, I learned so much more about myself, what’s important to me and the kind of life I’d like to lead. One of the most important lessons that has come from it was to make more time for fun, exploring new interests and the things I already enjoy to do!
I’ve always been the type of person who’d rather say no to going out so that I could stay in, the type who’d get really happy when plans got cancelled, the type who would miss out on fun events and gatherings because I was studying, tired, too sleepy or too lazy to get ready. Needless to say, this behavior only got worse in 2019, when I was dealing with everything that was going on at the time. I spent most of the year crying, avoiding social gatherings and self wallowing at home. Understandably, my main focus was on processing the painful hardships I had to endure, as best as I could. The pain was so debilitating that once I started to feel better, I couldn’t help but to feel extremely grateful that I got through it! All I wanted to do was to celebrate. To celebrate my strength, my healing, my life and my finding of joy again.
It took the many hardships and emotional pain that 2019 brought me, for me to realize that life is too short to not be enjoyed. Time was passing me by and I was missing out on so much. I felt I was wasting my youth. Once I truly realized this, I started looking for places to go, people to see, and filling up my calendar with events and gatherings. Signing up and saying yes to everything! I just wanted to do it all.
I started prioritizing going out, something I’ve never really done in my life before, and honestly? It’s been great! I feel that I live more fully now. Fully embracing all opportunities to have a good time. BUT It hasn’t been so easy! I work full time, go to school full time and want to spend plenty of time with my family, who likes to stay home. So, time for “fun,” sometimes has to wait. However, I do prioritize it a lot more now than I ever did before. Despite being a busy girl with plenty of commitments and responsibilities, making more time for fun has definitely given me a better balance between work, school, family, friends, “me” time and socializing.
Since incorporating “fun” has been so good for me thus far, I want to keep it up and continue to prioritize it, so as part of my New Year’s resolutions, I’ve made a mini bucket list, compiled of all the fun things I want to do in 2020! These are things I’ve always wanted to do but just never got around to. I totally encourage you to make a 2020 bucket list too! It doesn’t have to be long, it can be as long as you’d like! It just has to be intentional. What matters is that you write the things you’d like to do down, prioritize them and make a promise to yourself that you will follow up on doing them.
Fun is important and you deserve to have some! You deserve to enjoy life and not let yourself get too caught up with the business and seriousness of it all. Checking off things from your list makes for great stories, interesting experiences, and a life more fully lived and enjoyed.
Here’s my top priorities I definitely want to try and do this year!
– [ 1 ] Attend a vision board party
– [ 2 ] Attend the city’s 2020 Holi festival
– [ 3 ] Santa Con 2020
– [ 4 ] Participate in a writer’s challenge
– [ 5 ] Get my writing published
– [ 6 ] Go to Laduree
– [ 7 ] Go to a comedy show at the Comedy Cellar
– [ 8 ] Go to a jazz club
– [ 9 ] Go to an open mic night
– [ 10 ] Attend a cooking class
– [ 11 ] Attend a pottery class
– [ 12 ] Try speed dating
This list is still under construction and growing! As you can see it’s not full of “going out and drinking” type of fun. Its got things I want to try, festivals I want to attend, and challenges I want to participate in! These are things that had I not written down and prioritized time for, I may not have gotten to do. Bucket lists don’t always have to be grand, like climbing to the top of Mount Everest! It could be something super simple and doable that will bring you joy. Something like my #6, going to Laduree, something scary, like my #12, speed dating (Wish me luck!) or something challenging that you can do from home, like #4 on my list! I’d love to know what your mini bucket list is like! What kind of fun are you planning for yourself this year?!
