When most people reach a certain stage adulthood, they either accept the belief or are told to believe that you need to start taking life seriously and put the days of fun and no worries behind you. Life should now be focused on responsibility for yourself and for those around you. When we reach our quarterlife years, it is true that we will take on a lot more responsibilities (some bigger than others) for ourselves and for others, but there is often a lost message that’s a pretty important one. The message that encourages you to have fun and enjoy the journey and these years before even greater responsibility comes your way. In your twenties, you will gain a lot more responsibility but at the same time you will also have more freedom than you probably will at any other point in your life. If you take advantage of that freedom by doing your best to enjoy yourself and everything that you’re doing in whatever way you can, then you will find greater fulfillment not only in what you’re experiencing as a twentysomething, but also fulfillment in whatever you do the rest of your life.
Think about all of the best moments when you were younger - the ones that were the most fulfilling and rewarding. I bet that for most of you, they were moments when you were having fun and just being a kid. Playing little league, taking dance classes, playing video games, spending time with friends. Most of the things you were best at and most gratifying when you were a kid were often activities you had fun doing. Maybe for some of you that even included doing your math homework. If you were good at math, you probably enjoyed doing it! It’s really not that different when you are in your twenties, but some of the things you find enjoyable, gratifying and fun have most likely changed. While your definition of enjoyment and fun has changed, the principle remains the same. If you do what you enjoy, you will get greater fulfillment out of it and have a better quality of life overall. Now, this doesn’t mean you should go out and be reckless and irresponsible if that’s your definition of fun. But the principle should apply to many of the other areas of your life. Live in a city you enjoy and appreciate. Hang out with the friends you have fun with and who enjoy your company. Find a career or job that you can find some aspect of enjoyment from, whether it’s specifically at your job or making sure the job allows you to enjoy yourself outside of work hours. There is no law that says you can’t have fun doing something worthwhile and productive. In fact if you’re NOT having fun, you probably won’t do as good of a job with it anyway.
Entering into our quarterlife years, sometimes we can get consumed with our daily responsibilities that we can forget how to enjoy ourselves, or don’t know how to incorporate having fun into our everyday lives. A good place to start is to make a list of all of the things you enjoy doing most, then use that to brainstorm activities, hobbies and jobs that you might want to pursue. You don’t have to immediately change your job because you’re not having fun at it, but if you even just take one day a week to focus on doing something that you enjoy, whether it’s a sport, hobby, volunteer activity or whatever, you’ll see that consciously making an effort to enjoy yourself when you can will bring immense benefits to everything around you. Wherever you live and whatever you do, there is always a time and a place that will allow you to have fun and enjoy yourself in the midst of your other responsibilities.
In the midst of our daily twentysomething lives, we can often get caught up in what we “should” be doing rather than what we “could” or want to be doing. In the transition to adulthood, and with all of the responsibilities that accompany it, we sometimes forget that it’s okay to have fun and enjoy yourself even as your adult responsibilities may make it seem like it’s impossible to do otherwise. If you remember to consciously make an effort to find time to enjoy yourself and have fun, not only in your spare time but also in whatever you’re doing (work, school, etc) than the pressures and responsibilities will seemingly decrease only because they won’t seem like burdens on your life. It may not always be possible to make everything into a fun experience, but the moments you can find enjoyment from will be the most effortless and memorable experiences you might have in your life. You’re never too young to have fun, but you can grow too old to wish you had enjoyed yourself more when you were younger. Choosing to have fun when you can in your twenties will not only make your life easier and more enjoyable, but you’ll also find that you’ll be truly following the wants, wishes, passions and desires of your heart that will make your life more and more fulfilling each and every day.
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