I was with a coaching client last week and we were talking about fun and I was reminded about a set of cards I have called “The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun” created by Michael Bungay Stanier of www.BoxofCrayons.biz. I’m aware that I write about quite serious topics and thought it was time for a bit of fun!

Sadly I think too often we forget fun in our busy lives. There is a great tendency to take life so seriously. On my recent holiday in France we were staying in a gite owned by a local wine grower and his wife, Marc and Cathy Cros. In fact our gite was over the vats where the wine was maturing which explains the smell of wine as went up the stairs to where we were staying! They are a lovely couple and Marc, in particular, always seems happy and smiling. He just doesn’t take life too seriously. We always say we want to bring a bit of Marc back with us!

My favourite principle is number 3 which I’ve always loved and it says:-

“Stop following the rules
• With the exception of gravity, almost all of the rules are negotiable – someone just makes them up
• It’s no longer about what you can’t do
• It’s about what you can do.”

And there’s this great quote from the actress, Katharine Hepburn “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun”. So think of all the rules you make up and start breaking them, just one at a time and feel the mischief bubble up inside you and have a smile

And on a more serious note having fun brings more balance into our lives and as someone I know, who has recently lost his wife in tragic circumstances said in an e mail this week “laughter certainly does help raise the spirit”. I love to bring fun into my life coaching and I love to bring fun into the lives of my clients too!! So whatever’s going on in your life right now even if you’re facing trauma, postnatal depression, breast cancer, divorce or maybe you’re just a busy woman struggling to keep all those balls in the air just look out for the fun, however small it is.