Having Fun is Never a Waste of Time
Having Fun is Never a Waste of Time
We are not lazy, we are just common people who struggle to gain momentum and energy to move forward.
In this newsletter, we provide you with notes on Does This Year Matter? Then Use It. | Alastair Humphreys, The Doorstep Mile, an episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast.
Hosted by Ginny Yurich, an author, speaker, and creator of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast. She is joined by Alastair Humphreys, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year as well as an author, photographer, videographer, speaker, and more.
Read our notes below.
Topics Covered in this Summary
Live More Adventurously Everyday
Having Fun is Never a Waste of Time
The Real ‘Living’
Live More Adventurously Everyday
We often love the idea of living more adventurously and dream that we could somehow do that with our lives. The idea is glorious, but putting it into action can be difficult.
It's all about getting started. Go after your silly daydream. Instead of looking for reasons, make the most of your opportunities. Leave the dishes and go climb a tree with your child.
Consider yourself an elderly man or woman looking back on your life. It's risky to try new things and show your weaknesses, but living an empty life is also risky.
Seek out something that scares or challenges you. It could be entering a longer race, taking a cold dip, or your first night of camping. One of the most important parts of being adventurous is learning to see the wild and exciting things in your own backyard instead of thinking that you can only be adventurous if you fly to Patagonia.
Having Fun is Never a Waste of Time
As we get older and our responsibilities increase, we sometimes forget to have fun. We often defend this neglect with the excuse, “I don’t have enough time” or “there are more important things that I need to do.” Regardless of your profession, having a little fun is definitely OK.
Every second is a gift, and as long as you are making progress in some way, even if it’s just being in a good mood, it’s still an improvement over who you were yesterday.
Enjoy the little things in life, and you may find that they really aren’t little things. After all, the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time!
According to Alastair Humphreys, there are three different kinds of fun:
Having fun at the moment. Whether that be playing on a beach on a sunny day or drinking hot chocolate in the sunshine with your family or friends.
Fun should be going in on an adventure. It's as if you were out in the woods and it was cold and windy and you were desperate to get home and everyone was miserable, and then you drank hot chocolate and felt warm and at home. It wasn't much fun at the time, but it was a lot of fun afterward because of the great memories.
The fun that you should avoid. It's the kind of fun that involves risky activities like sailing in a stormy sea, encountering bears in the wild, or throwing stones at a beehive. It is not fun at that time, not fun later on, and never ever fun.
The Real ‘Living’
We are not lazy, we are just common people who struggle to gain momentum and energy to move forward, but once we do, everything falls into place beautifully. Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
Dragging the kids outside is difficult, but after you put on your trainers and take the first step, everything changes and you find yourself dragging your kids back in.
It's about figuring out how to go about living amidst the chaos of ‘real life’. There is something more in life than this, and the first step on your doorstep is the hardest step. Some things may not always work, but we can always try. Just do one small thing today and don't worry about the rest. The most important thing is to enjoy life.
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Listen to the original episode