Saturday, February 4, 2012

What can we do that's fun in Iselin???
(we are so bored...)

Yup, I can't tell you how many times I heard THAT from my kids when they were younger!  Luckily, as they got older they figured it out.  They never wanted to hear the TRUE answer to the question.  But, if you found this web post because you are bored, I'm going to tell you the true answer. 

And, at the end of my answer, there's a video that you should watch, because it's about some Iselin kids who also seem to know the answer. 

But, anyway, here is MY answer to the perennial question "What can we do??? We are SO BORED!"

First of all, BEFORE you can have fun, you need to work harder, every day.  If you had more work to do, you would enjoy your free time more, no matter what you were doing.  Get a job, or a second job. Study harder.  Study your school work every day, even if the teacher doesn't require it. Pick out something you want to learn - and read up on it.   Exercise - work out.  Do some laundry and clean up your room or the house...  someone in your life would really appreciate that!  And yes, you need to do work EVERY DAY, even if it's "boring."  Work will make your life better.  Work on something that will improve something... it can make the whole WORLD better.  That's the first thing that no one wants to hear:  Work is important, and it makes fun more fun.  You aren't really supposed to have nothing but fun 24 hours every day. 

Then, get used to some alone time.   Spend time with yourself, just thinking, just daydreaming.  Maybe even try meditation.  Turn off the TV.  Turn off the phone and the computer.  The second thing no one wants to hear is that you have to be alone with your thoughts sometimes, and learn to enjoy it.  Give peacefulness a chance.  Listen to yourself think, and realize that not every thought you have is true, or correct, or helpful.  Sometimes you just think silly and illogical things and you have to dismiss them from your mind.

And then, after you've spent some time with yourself, you need to spend some time thinking about other people.  Do something nice for someone else, and you'll feel better about everything.   It really is important.

Now, if you are really ready to have some fun, attitude is everything.  You don't need outside stimulants like alcohol or drugs in order to have fun.  Fun is a state of mind, not a state of inebriation.  A lot of times, people decide in advance "Oh, this is going to be so boring," or "Oh wow, this is going to be GREAT!"  and most of the time, they are right.  And that's not because they're so good at judging how much fun something is; it's because they've got their state of mind already set.  And it's even better if you can convince another person to have the right mindset, too, because then the two of you will reinforce each other.  You'll have fun even if you are just walking down the street, because you'll be laughing and joking and enjoying each other.

OK, now the big question... what can you do in Iselin that's fun?
Well, unfortunately, that's the one question you really do have to answer for yourself.  You can play games, you can run, you can start some kind of project - maybe cook some kind of huge meal or build something.  You can go out to eat, you can go shopping.  You can take the train to NYC.  You can ride bikes, you can play frisbee, you can make a video.  You can form your own Flashmob, including dance routines and music.  You can start a band or write a song.  You can search Youtube, you can go to movies.  You have to come up with the ideas.  If I want to have fun - and I do - I will paint or read or listen to music.  That might not be fun to you. 

So here's the video I mentioned. It's from MANNN:TCTW, and they've given themselves a challenge - a pie eating contest. Fun for me? No.  If I wanted to have fun, I would have baked the pie.   But they certainly seemed to enjoy themselves.




And if that interests you, apparently tonight you can watch the Mannn:TCTW guys on a livestream, at around 6 or 7, by clicking HERE. Their facebook is HERE, so pop over and say hi.

And go have some fun!

2 comments:

  1. Great post, Sue. You make some wonderful points here.

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  2. Thanks Karen! If I had a quarter for every time my kids said "We're so bored, there's nothing to do..." Whenever I said that when I was a kid, my parents gave me a job to do, lol!

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