Saturday, January 4, 2025

The Fun Habit by Mike Rucker, PhD

From the blurb:  "So why fun? If happiness is a mirage, then fun is your backyard oasis. While happiness is a state of mind and a reaction to your circumstances, fun is an action you can take here and now, practically anywhere, anytime. Research has shown that pursuing fun is enormously beneficial to our physical and psychological well-being."


 
3 Favorite Quotes:

"Happiness is a state of mind, but fun is something you can do. It doesn't require education, money, or power. All it requires is intentionality. Fun is immediate. And it is uniquely yours."
  
"When you fill your life with fun and novel experiences and feed your brain lots of new information--learning, traveling, meeting new people, trying new activities--you look back on life in general with greater satisfaction."

"Extraordinary experiences require us to make deliberate choices. Transformative moments don't often fall out of the sky, but there are definitely ways to increase their frequency. Choosing fun every day in small, seemingly superficial ways can, over time, lead you to new patterns of behavior--new and better choices. What starts as a dance of whimsy may lead to you discovering The Mystery, with joy lighting the path. How might your life improve after a month, or a year--or ten years--of making fun a habit?"

My thoughts: I love Rucker's premise and the exercises he suggests, and totally agree that we all need to have a little more intentional fun in our lives. Everyday. Even if it's something small. It's something I intend to work on this year. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Happy Reading!


P.S.  I've been having trouble getting my comments to go through on some Wordpress blogs; I don't know why. I've never had trouble before. But suddenly my comments are disappearing. Are they lost in the limbo of spam? Who knows. But Helen, Susan, and Lisa...if you don't see any comments from me on your most recent posts, that's why! I'm not ignoring you, I promise. And hopefully it sorts itself out soon. 

26 comments:

  1. I've had a few troubles lately with my comments going through, too. I'm not sure why.

    I will look for this book.

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    1. He makes some really good points in it. And it's so frustrating when your comments just disappear. And I'm not a huge fan of Disqus...which is why I don't comment on your posts any more, though I do still read them!

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    2. Deb-I immediately thought of you when I saw the book, glad you saw it too :)

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  2. Replies
    1. It certainly made me think about things in a new way, more fun way. :D

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  3. I like the sound of this and it's a great way to start the new year. Wordpress does throw some comments into spam so I check every once in a while.

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    1. Blogger does that, too. sometimes I find my own comments on my own blog in the spam folder. It's annoying.

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  4. This sounds great! I think we all need a little more fun in our lives. I hope my library has this book. :D

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    1. I hope it does, too. If not, you've got the main idea of it. ;D

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  5. I resolve to try to have more "fun" in 2025!

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  6. I liked those quotes from the book that you shared. Will check this one out. We can all use more fun and as you shared, sometimes we have to be intentional about looking for it. :-)

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    1. Fun is definitely one of the things I want to be more intentional about this year!

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  7. There are many books out there about happiness which is important but as Mike Rucker PhD says happiness is a state of mind where doing something fun is intentional and what a great book to read to start the New Year.

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    1. And I definitely want to get out and do more fun things this year.

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  8. Thanks for sharing.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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  9. I really like this idea and the sound of this book. Adding this book to my wish list.

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    1. He made a lot of really good points and convinced me I definitely need more fun in my life.

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  10. I like the philosophy expressed here. I need to work a lot harder at it, I think.

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    1. Choosing to have more fun in my life is one of my goals this year. :D

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  11. Hopefully the comment problem fixes itself. There are some people that have a hard time commenting on my blog too and I have no idea why.

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    1. It's so frustrating when it happens. I never know why, or how to fix it. But it's why I always check my spam comments just in case that's where a blogging friend's comments got sent. Technology is great until it doesn't work! ;D

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  12. This sounds like an interesting book and I do like the philospohy expressed. I will have to look for this one.

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  13. I think I will be adding this one to my TBR as well. It sounds fun, ;) .

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  14. Never thought of happiness being a state of mind and fun being something you choose to do. I agree, having fun is important! I should make more time for it. :)

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