ChaHAhange must be FUN

"Something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people's

 behavior for the better"  

The Fun Theory 

I have always been a haHAhappy child.  

I vibrate to a peaceful haHAharmony.  I always look for the brighter side of things.  My enthusiasm is like sunshine radiating through me.

Somewhere from childhood to adult, I lost this ability to be hahahappy. I got wound up tight.  My cultural conditioning and upbringing had me finding faults, criticizing, tearing things down. Watching the news made me angry.  Seeing sad things brought me down. Drowning my feelings in food and bad haHAhabits kept me sedated instead of seeking answers. 

In fact, it was not until I had a nervous breakdown - three days of crying without being able to stop or control myself - that I re-examined my life as to what needed to change.  It felt like all the drawers fell out of my head and I wasn't sure how to put them back.  I remember LoverBoy's wise wonderful words - examine what's in the drawers and decide if they need to be put back at all. 

The chaHAhallenge became replacing old haHAhabits with new ones.  In order to do that and effective chaHAhange, my new haHAhabits had to be fun.  Otherwise, I would start and stop and shift back to the old ways.

For me, laughter yoga was a gift.  It was an opportunity to get in touch with my inner child again and laugh from my belly.  The light stretching and the movement put me in my body and out of my head.   The attitude of gratitude that I felt from building my HAHA muscle spilled over into other parts of my life as well.  It helped me chahahange my perspective and how I look at things.  It gave me a chahahance to laugh at myself and take life a little less seriously.

Most important, laughter yoga is fun.  I get to do the hokey pokey.   I speak in gibberish.  I roar like a lion.  I clap my hands and stomp my feet.  I shahahakti shahahake from my head down to my toes.    I go outside and laugh in nature - surrounded by trees or by the beach.   I feel good. Very good, very good, Yay!!!

It was the same when I was losing weight.  An extra 80 pounds on my small frame seemed impossible to remove and I tried for years.  Diets and exercise routines were so boring and hahahard and limiting.  These techniques made me lose my resolve instead of the fat.  

One day, a book I read suggested writing letters of forgiveness to whoever I was angry at.  Releasing anything that was within and needed to be expressed so I could chahahange internally.   After writing these letters, I stuffed them in a drawer.   Easy peasy!!! 

The book also suggested walking meditations.  Walking consciously and focusing on my environment and my breath instead of my thoughts.   And another book told me to just start by walking down the block and back home again.  For a week - until I got the hang of it.  Soon, I was walking daily - easy peasy.  

And then I got a dog.  My daily walk turned into 3-4 times a day walks.  It was so much fun to be outside with my dog(God) and meeting peeps in my neighborhood who had dogs.  Soon, I was walking my neighbor's dogs with my dog and then I was running.   I forgot about the weight and the weight came right off me.

For me, chaHAhanging anything requires having fun with it. When I chahanged my lifestyle from meat to no meat (vegetarian), I picked new ingredients I had never played with and found yummylicious recipes to try.   Seven years later, when I chahahanged my lifestyle from vegetarian to vegan I took online courses so I could study with the best.   The juiciest pictures and simplest recipes got my time and attention. 

When I decided to become raw, I needed support for this great big chahahange.  I became an organizer of a RawFood Meetup group and I set up Potlucks in exciting venues (farms, yoga studios, churches, markets).  I took pictures of the rawlicious dishes created and posted the recipes.  I would create recipes for my neighbors to try and raw chocolate to gently shift from one way of being to another.  I made it exciting to live this lifestyle to sustain my new habits.

With time, my research shows me that fun is whatever fuels my passion and helps me chahahange faster.  This makes chahahange engaging (we want to participate) and sustainable (we keep on doing it until it becomes permanent).  I choose what needs to be chahahanged and I examine how I can do it in a fun way.  

This usually requires some out of the box thinking.  The blessing is all the resources at our fingertips - at the time it was the power of the internet and Google - where we can ask and get all sorts of information on how to do things different (as well as videos so we can see the chahahanges too).  Now, I have SIRI.  I ask and she answers.  

This week's chahahange was a haircut.  Two years ago, after growing my hair for almost seven years, I cut it somewhat short.   I let go of 10 inches of hair and donated it to Wigs for Kids.  The thought of my hair helping a child warmed my heart and made it easy to create this chahahange.

Friday, I did it again.   This time I had my hair cut short to my chin and let go of 10 inches of hair.  I planned an evening event with people who love me the most, my family, so they could support this radical chahahange in my life.   Nothing like glowing in the bask of compliments from people who truly love you to help you adapt to your chahahanges.   

I chahahallenge you this week to chahahange one thing in your life and find a fun way to implement it.   Shahahare with me below what it's going to be and how I can support you in making this chahahange fun and permanent.