111 inexpensive and easy ways to add more fun to your life!

It is easy to get caught up in the shoulds and woulds and coulds of life.

I love a good grandiose dream, but many of the people I talk with and coach are so focused on the big goals (write a NYTimes best-selling novel, take a year-long trip through South America, have an elaborate wedding, make enough money to buy the big house on the hill), that they forget to add some simple joys to their daily life.

Your life is a story. What’s the story you’re telling?

Use this list to stop focusing solely on the big plot points of your life and start incorporating those juicy, decadent details that make a story worth telling.

This list is a reminder that fun shouldn’t stop at childhood, that you’re allowed to play as an adult too.

Whenever you’re feeling stuck, miserable, or bored, randomly pick a number from this list and give it a go.

Download this list and check them off as you do them!

1. Smile. This causes a physiological reaction in your body that releases serotonin, the feel-good hormone.
2. Take 3 breaths – count 3 seconds in, 6 seconds out. Exhaling longer than your inhale turns off your flight or fight mechanism, which reduces stress.
3. You don’t have to stop playing just because you’ve grown up.
4. Do a little extra – in secret. Do an extra dish, or pay for the next person’s latté.
5. Reach your hand up above your head, and pat yourself on the back for everything you do well.
6. Laugh for no reason for 5 minutes.
7. Sing really, really, really loudly.
8. Commit to being present right here, right now. Then do #2.
9. Do a little dance to your favorite music.
10. Make a list of 10 things you’re grateful for, right now. You can start with 1. You’re breathing.
11. Stroll through Goodwill with the intention to get one extremely unique new item only.
12. Eat a square of chocolate and let it melt on your tongue – no biting it – and allow yourself the time to savor the flavor.
13. Roll around in warm laundry fresh from the dryer.
14. Compliment someone else.
15. Put on a bikini (trust me, you have a bikini body) and find a hot tub to soak in.
16. Compliment yourself in the mirror.
17. Look – really look – at the structure of a plant,
18. Contemplate the genius of the butterfly. This is an insect that starts out as a caterpillar that’s taken over by imaginal cells to transform – literally – into a completely new form.
19. What made you the most happy as a kid? Go do that.
20. Watch puppies play. Watch kittens play. Heck, any baby animal will do.
21. Put on your favorite music from your young childhood. Sing along to Itsy, Bitsy, Spider, hand motions and all.
22. Teach someone how to do something you’re already good at.
23. Do something unexpected – surprise yourself.
24. Go camping. Go glamping (fancy/glamour camping). Bring good food. Roast s’mores. Sing around the campfire.
25. Listen to Baroque music – its tempo is that of your heartbeat.
26. Have a good cry. Rejuvenation arises after the release of sadness and grief.
27. Imagine you’re in your favorite natural place in the world, at your favorite time of day. Breathe it into your body and allow it to nourish you until it seeps out your pores. Repeat as necessary.
28. Meditate. 5 minutes, 20 minutes, 2 hours. Whatever you can and want to do. It’s proven to make a positive difference in your life.
29. Do something you’ve always wanted to do. You know, that thing that’s nagged at you to be done for years.
30. Drive around the roundabout over and over again like a newly licensed 16-year old.
31. Stop by the side of the road to look at birds.
32. Look through your photos from a recent trip you loved.
33. Take a self-defense class. Beat up the mannequin!
34. Set up a reading chair in an unused corner and give yourself 30 minutes a day to dive into a good novel. (Check out all of my favorite books here: http://goo.gl/gwqgoh).
35. Doodle. You can set the timer for 5 minutes and see what you come up with.
36. Color. There are adult coloring books for a reason. Find one!
37. Text a random love message to someone you know and love. Friend, family, lover. Do it!
38. Have a staycation. Stay at home but let yourself do all the things you only do on vacation. Be a tourist. Lounge around. Don’t work.
39. Clean the house in your sexiest lingerie and a pearl necklace.
40. Text a love message to yourself. What would a love note to you say?
41. Watch a sunset from the highest point in your city.
42. Allow your curiosity to guide you today. Wander with no other purpose than to find something new and unique around you.
43. Read the comics in the newspaper.
44. Try to come up with your own comic strip.
45. Drink sparkling water in a champagne glass with lunch.
46. Take yourself on a photo scavenger hunt around your town.
47. Read poetry. I suggest Mary Oliver, if you haven’t read her yet.
48. Try a new ice cream flavor.
49. Write a love poem.
50. Feed the homeless or volunteer at a homeless shelter.
51. Join a writing group.
52. Volunteer at a local small farm in exchange for fresh produce.
53. Watch a local high school or community theater production.
54. Foster kittens or puppies for your local shelter. Let them fall asleep in your arms.
55. Host a fancy afternoon tea for your friends. Dress up. Wear hats.
56. Get in a taxi and ask them to take you to their favorite restaurant.
57. Start a community garden.
58. Take a fun class through your local college extension program.
59. Visit a new museum. Most museums have free days.
60. Start a book club. See my favorite books here: http://goo.gl/gwqgoh
61. Become a philanthropist and donate time to a charity.
62. Plan a masquerade ball. Have everyone dress up. Dance formally. Wear masks.
63. Spend the whole day at the library reading.
64. Write a short story.
65. Go to a nude beach.
66. Learn to knit. Make someone a scarf.
67. Throw a sushi night. Have each friend bring something to put in the rolls. Get creative. Laugh a lot. Be daring. (Start with veggie sushi, it’s easier to get right.)
68. Color with the markers from your childhood that smelled like candy.
69. Take a long, luxurious bubble bath. Maybe bring a waterproof sex toy with you? (I love the We-Vibe Tango for bathtime fun: http://goo.gl/Mv8FUa.)
70. Hike in a forest. Walk in the desert. Touch nature.
71. Go to an open mic night.
72. Have a two-martini lunch. Not a good time to drink? Fill it with flavored kombucha or sparkling juice drink.
73. Print out your three favorite photos you’ve ever taken and hang them as art.
74. Host a dinner party. Light candles. Play good music.
75. Go to the park to swing. Try the monkey bars too.
76. Write a novel with friends in one night, each one writing a different chapter.
77. Call an old friend.
78. Make your own sauerkraut. Have your friends over for a BBQ when it’s done in a month.
79. Join a lawn bowling or croquet group.
80. Attend the symphony. Most have free or reduced rehearsal days.
81. Play Monopoly with friends. Finish the game (I’ve only done this once!).
82. Spend the whole day cooking food you’ve never made before.
83. Put on a play with and for your friends.
84. Read a Shakespearean play (for beginners, I suggest Romeo and Juliet or Midsummer Night’s Dream).
85. Take free online cooking classes. Have your friends over to try out the results.
86. Play hopscotch. Jump rope.
87. Go stargazing. Many areas have astronomy clubs that will let you look through their telescopes. Check out the rings on Saturn.
88. Mentor a child or teen.
89. Give yourself a long, sensuous orgasm. Orgasms release loads of serotonin!
90. Plant an herb garden in your kitchen.
91. Babysit a friend or family member’s kid.
92. Join a bird watching group. Download the Merlin bird identification app, it’s free! http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org
93. Visit the elderly at a retirement home. Listen to their stories.
94. Join a card club.
95. Visit a National or State Park.
96. Learn something new on YouTube.
97. Turn your phone, Internet, and TV off for a whole day. See how great you feel when that day is over. (Maybe warn loved ones first so they don’t worry.)
98. Train for a marathon or bike ride for charity.
99. Go for a sunset stroll.
100. Paint your own portrait.
101. Ask one of your friends to be your pen pal. Decorate each card you send them. Bare your soul.
102. Make a short movie.
103. Write your favorite quotes in chalk on sidewalks.
104. Hike often. Here are my tips for those of us that don’t look like the people in the REI commercials: http://goo.gl/aHebQ8
105. Get a fish tank.
106. Have a potluck picnic with friends.
107. Paint your furniture bright colors.
108. Get a new audiobook (my favorites are Yes, Please by Amy Poehler, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and any of the Harry Potter books read by Jim Dale) and walk around your city listening to the story. See some of my other favorite books here: http://goo.gl/gwqgoh
109. Record an audio letter to a friend.
110. Paint your own pottery.
111. Visit an old cemetery and find the oldest grave there.

Make a list of all of the things that bring you joy and make you feel like you’re having fun. Do one thing a day. I call this your Daily Decadence. Use #DailyDecadence on social media to share your adventures and get inspiration from others.

So, what FUN will YOU have today?! Let us know in the Bawdy Love Facebook group.

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