A popular saying is to “do something every day that scares you” and, whether it’s to speak a little Thai to a bunch of native speakers, go cycling on the roads for the first time since your accident or order that weird green cake with the aduki beans on top for dessert instead of the brownie (ok, not exactly scary, but slightly intrepid), I think it’s a great way to step outside of your comfort zones and grow as a person. By the way, these are some of the “scary” things I did this week. I don’t consciously do one every day, but I think it’s nice to be a little adventurous often.
But something I think is equally, if not more important, is to do something you love every day, too. In my case it would be “do something every day that’s ridiculous”.
I suppose that idea isn’t as popular because we assume that a lack of willpower and human selfishness will make us do these fun things anyway but, on the contrary, I think a lot of us need a reminder. A lot of the time we’re too busy or weighed down with responsibility that the things we love to do are the first ones we drop from our schedule.
As you might have gathered from my recent columns, I am not a happy-go-lucky type and I get stressed out over pretty much everything. This week I had a not one but two huge migraines — and my migraines are always triggered by stress.
Anyway, I’m not going to go into it too much because I already wrote a column a few months back about the horror that is a migraine. Needless to say, my absolute priority is to never have one again. I take them as a huge red flag for my health and a warning sign that something needs to change.
Like last time I had one, my immediate plan was to add more yoga, meditation, walking and massage into my schedule. But then I read something from my weightlifting guru Jen Sinkler (if you’re remotely interested in the gym, check her out) saying that during your down time you must do something you enjoy, otherwise it becomes another chore.
That might sound counter-productive and foolish, but I do exactly that. When I go for my long “relaxing walks” I use my pedometer and try and get up to a certain number of steps. Or, when I go for a massage, I opt for an excruciatingly painful Thai massage to help work out tension, rather than just a long, lingering oil massage that will send me into a blissful sleep. I have a talent for making the relaxing into a productive task.
So, as well as throwing in the odd mildly adventurous activity into my day (yes, green cake counts as adventurous activity), I am also throwing a generous helping of the frivolous in, too; listening to Katy Perry on full blast on the way to work, wearing a slinky evening dress to work because I feel like it, having an ice cream shake when I’m at a business meeting or spending an hour making my brother’s face look pretty on a makeup app on my phone.
These may also seem like hallmarks of someone teetering on the cusp of insanity but, they really were fun and helped to lighten up a day that was otherwise layer upon layer of stress.
No matter how busy you are, there’s always time to put your favourite song on and forget the world for a second. It’s not ideal, but a moment of frivolity can add a little much-needed sweetness.
