My friend in ZhongLi suggested the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin was a great find. The book goes through a year of Gretchen’s self discipline.
In May she talks about Fun. Fun falls into three categories: challenging fun, accommodating fun, and relaxing fun.
All three take a bit of effort, but the rewards can be surprising. I find that “Fun” by myself is the easiest.
Getting together with family and friends isn’t necessarily fun. At times it can
be stressful. I’ve been living in Taiwan for quite a few years without family
so I haven’t had any experiences with family fun.
I do have quite a few friends in Taiwan, and especially going surfing for example
is a lot of fun.
If you buy a hard copy, don’t buy the small print, it’s hard to read.
Sometimes it may depend on what kinds of friends you go and have “fun” with.
Sometimes I feel like when I get together with old friends that I grew up with, there’s a bit of pressure on me (or others). One member of the party is always leading by example. At my age, it’s good job paying 6 figures USD, paying mortgage on a house instead of renting, long term gf or fiance and a dog. I have none of those. Nonetheless, my friends don’t really make it a competition.
Family on the other hand, is normally quite stressful.
I read this book a few years ago. Interesting idea of trying different things to see what makes you happy. I’m convinced that most of us are never happy for too long. Experiences give me more happiness than stuff.