11-50 More Fun Things to Do!

Here are 40 more Fun Things to Do! Hooray! Now you can liven up your day, or assign yourself some interesting activities if you are feeling a little low, or invite a friend or friends for some adventure! Thanks to Jean, Estelle, Kim, Dorothy, and Lori for their wonderful contributions. A really fun thing to do was typing these all up. I try not to have favorites, but "playing kazoos in a group" is just some kind of terrific! Once you have done some of the things on our lists, you can report back in with your "Funster Report!"

11. Make a list of ten things that make you feel grateful (goodlistdaily.com is a good place to do this)

12. Singing with my parrot

13. Joining a choir

14. Teaching my grandchildren songs my Mother taught me

15. Holding hands

16. Baking bread

17. Driving down a street you’ve never been on before to see where it goes

18. Feeling the sun on your face, especially in Winter

19. Playing with a puppy.

20. Going to a bookstore, getting a latte, and looking through all kinds of wonderful magazines and books.

21. Going to a fun grocery store and or an organic market.

22. Zentangle! (see zentangle.com)

23. Beading

24. Walking on the beach

25. Playing with my sweet dog

26. Cleaning out a drawer

27. Finding a garage sale

28. Writing a blog entry

29. Trying a new recipe

30. Planning a theme party

31. Reading a really good book

32. Finding a great new restaurant

33. Making a new friend

34. Holding a baby

35. Drawing

36. Going to the movies and getting popcorn with extra butter

37. Baking muffins

38. Hugging my son

39. Going to an art gallery

40. Going to the beach or pool on a hot day

41. Singing in the rain

42. Old-fashioned board games

43. Going to the symphony

44. Playing kazoos in a group

45. Zipping fast on a zip-line

46. Hiking to a picturesque spot

47. Writing funny off-beat poems

48. Watching a sunrise

49. Watching a sunset

50. Eating at a drive-in restaurant

1-10 of 1,000 Fun Things to Do!

I think it will really be fun to see how long it will take to gather 1,000 fun things to do! The idea came to me out the blue, and it was too good to pass up! I hope you will help me achieve this fun goal. Please feel free to share whatever you read here and maybe some day, I will really be able to gather these fun and creative ideas together in some "real" form. Here are the first ten:


1. write in a journal
2. go to the library with a blank notebook
3. make a collage
4. try a new recipe
5. take a nap
6. meditate
7. dance spontaneously
8. go to a thrift store
9. have a picnic on the spur of the moment (inside or out)
10. say yes to something new

I really like unusual fun things to do, or wellness tools as we call them in the WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) community, so some of my ideas will be longer. Please share yours in any way you like by using the "click here" in the upper right hand corner of this blog. Off we go!

Listing Things That Make Me Smile

After I wrote about ten things that made me smile, I kept thinking of more and more things that make me smile. Since I was starting to look foolish going around with a smile on my face all the time, I though I better start recording some of my smile makers. It took 100 things before I started to get the whole smile thing out of my system. I am sure I could have listed a lot more if I didn't have to resume my life's activities! I now have my list posted on my refrigerator and it makes me smile, feel happy, and enormously grateful every time I see it. I hope that someone out there is starting to make their own "Smile List" right now!

100 Things That Make Me Smile!

1. seeing someone I love 2. the song “Amazing Grace” 3. crows 4. singing lullabies 5. the Goodyear blimp 6. mail carriers who whistle 7. little children with sunglasses 8. Canada geese honking while they’re flying 9. unusually shaped trees 10. corn on the cob 11. lots of bumper stickers on one car 12. beautifully presented food 13. homemade soup 14. when someone holds the door for you 15. outrageous yard art 16. creative license plates 17. snowpeople or forts 18. truck drivers who honk for little kids 19. cotton candy 20. kids’ shoes with lights in them 21. George Clooney 22. wild nail polish 23. teddy bears 24. deely boppers 25. perfect classical music 26. funny tee-shirts 27. a child skipping 28. buds on bushes or trees in the Spring 28. finding a new book 29. a greenhouse 30. a hula girl on a dashboard 31. wind chimes 32. great blue herons 33. fresh lemonade 34. fountain pens with turquoise ink 35. fountain pens with purple ink 36. a happy unexpected phone call 37. keyword searches 38. the perfect greeting card 39. when I’m writing, the second sentence! 40. hawks 41. morning glories 42. bonfires 43. fun socks 44. blowing bubbles 45. making cut-out cookies 46. interesting shadows 47. watching someone get a well-deserved award 48. wildly colored hair 49. huge pickles in big glass jars 49. fingerpainting 50. Kewpie dolls 51. witnessing an act of kindness 52. a big avocado 53. finding a fabulous shell on the beach 54. friendly and helpful salespeople 55. that first bite of pizza 56. hope 57. landing safely in a plane! 58. woodcuts 59. sunflowers 60. seeing a wedding party on the church steps as you drive by 61. flamboyant dressers 62. extreme Christmas lighting displays 63. someone whittling 64. red, ripe, homegrown tomatoes 65. funny things hanging from rearview mirrors 66. kids in a Halloween parade 67. free samples at the grocery store 68. clouds in shapes 69. finding a favorite magazine in the mail 70. people who perform traffic kindnesses 71. taking a great photograph 72. setting a lovely table for a dinner party 73. looking up something in a dictionary 74. birds chirping 75. a newborn baby 76. kittens playing 77. fairy gardens 78. an idea for a new adventure 79. black cherries 80. chatting with strangers 81. starting a terrific book 82. finishing a terrific book 83. a new idea in the shower 84. unexpected color combinations 85. hugs 86. happy anticipation 87. the joy of completion 88. art that touches my spirit 89. a handwritten thank you note 90. red, ripe, succulent strawberries 91. charm bracelets 92. when a child explains something 93. primroses 94. a sign that says “SMILE” 95. every time I hear a song that reminds me of a happy time 96. really great pecan pie 97. finding things my children made for me when they were little 98. blank notebooks full of possibility 99. sock monkeys 100. love in action!

Weak or Strong?

I woke up this morning with this phrase in my head -- "I am a curious mixture of strengths and weaknesses!" I know that is true of all of us, but for some reason that phrase really struck me and so I played around with it in my journal. I read one time that one person is never ALL strong or ALL weak, and that was very reassuring to me. I used to feel that if I was on the top of my game, I would be strong most of the time. But it really is sort of a game, isn't it? It's easy to feel strong when you are thinking about conquering your fears and achieving your goals. It's a whole other thing to walk tall and proud right through the anxiety and confusion and conquer whatever it is that is challenging you.

I have the advantage of having a WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan), because it is full of wellness tools and action plans which I have devised to help me coordinate my life. It is amazing to me that wellness tools are mostly fun and when I turn them into action plans, I really do get empowered to overcome a lot life's expected and unexpected trials and tribulations!

I take comfort in the fact that even if I have been feeling weak and wimpy for a while, I can delve into that "curious mixture of strengths and weaknesses" and pick out some strengths to cultivate. I do that in many ways -- by writing in my journal every day and checking in with myself, making lists, getting support from friends and family, doing fun and creative things, and even by doing something silly.

It really doesn't matter if we are feeling weak or strong. What matters is that we know that we can work to our strengths and surprise ourselves by the choices we make which will eventually empower us, and we can choose again at any second! Hooray!

1,000 Fun Things to Do Challenge!

I'm starting a "1,000 Fun Things to Do" Challenge! Stay tuned for more information!

What Makes You Smile?

The other day I was watching a mother push her baby in a stroller and I was thinking about how babies always make me smile. Just the sight of a baby's face can lift my spirits immediately, and if they smile at me, then I am a complete fool. So I decided to make a list of things that make me smile. My list includes puppies or kittens playing, a beautiful flower, any sunrise or sunset, robins in the Spring (and the way they hop around), people dancing -- especially at a wedding, an older couple holding hands, a younger couple holding hands, children holding hands, anyone holding hands, a nice big avocado, sock monkeys, and more! I really loved making my list because it made me realize how many things make me smile! I am going to post it somewhere so it can bring a smile to my face often.

I also appreciate it when a stranger smiles at me with a really big smile, just in passing, giving me a gift of acknowledgement and kindness. Smiles make me so grateful for the connections we have with each other. Even smiling when you are alone is a wonderful way to brighten your life at no personal expense! Hooray!