Unfortunately that is not the case. In fact, in my practice as a life coach when using the wheel of life, -a simple yet powerful tool, that gives both me and my client a clear snapshot of his/her life-, I often see people not only reporting extremely low satisfaction scores in the Fun and Recreation life sector, but are also having a hard time figuring out what is fun according to them -not according to current trends or society's perceived notions of fun- and more often than not, directly correlate having fun with spending money. 

Life is 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows, accruing to the Buddha and it seems like after 8 to 10 hours of work and in spite our innate yearning for happiness, most of us are so focused on the 10.000 sorrows that we become almost blind to the 10.000 joys, patiently waiting to be lived and experienced. 

We are so used to keeping ourselves busy, constantly working on proving (!!!) we are worthy, of appreciation, social acceptance, wealth or recognition, that we forget to stop from time time and simply Be. And even when we do stop, it's hard to invite joy into our lives, because we can hardly recognise it, anymore. We have forgotten how it feels to be playful, joyful and have genuine fun.  

In reality, for all of us lost in the bustle of everyday life, figuring out what we consider to be fun, can take a lot of time and deep self exploration and even then, we might still end up exorcising fun and recreational activities to our weekends, suffocating our fun-deprived-selves into flat, dull, all-work-no-play, workweeks. 

You must be shaking your head by now, thinking "what is she even talking about?" "What's a steamy bowl of dreams, anyway?", well I get that a lot. 

And to be honest, I used to feel quite uncomfortable expressing myself authentically, in front of others and sometimes I still do, but most of the time I consciously chose not to. 

And, yes, I might be, less conventional than I used to and even slightly on the weird side of human nature but it's still who I am. It's me and I am not going to cover up my silliness, or lessen my dreams, or twist my truth to fit into whatever is considered as "normal" these days.

Hope you are enjoying this fine August as much as I am. 

For the following two weeks I am taking a break from writing blog posts, as I will be vacating with my family, taking some time to connect with myself and getting ready for a wondrous winter ahead. 

During those two weeks, my mind will be set on an exploration mode, looking for the small wonders in my everyday life and I thought sharing them with you all, would be a great way to keep us connected and inspired. 

So stay tuned for small daily photo treasures, capturing all the things that I discovered after looking everything with the intention to see beauty, in my everyday life.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, reclaim your joys and find beauty around you, no matter where you are.

Much Love, 

TakeTen would like to welcome our first, extremely talented blogger Nina Shadi. I am a frequent reader of her blog With an Open Heart and I just love her. So, I am honoured to have one of her blog posts shared here on TakeTen. Here a few words from Nina. Enjoy! 

Personal growth and self-discovery are at the heart of what I write about on my blog, With an Open Heart. So, when Nichole wrote to me and asked if I would be interested in guest posting for TakeTen, I was beyond thrilled. It also validated that the work that I do as a personal growth blogger, as well as a therapist, has me headed in the right direction toward happiness and self-fulfillment. 

The post I will be sharing is from, The Awakened Heart Project a 52 week series designed to help you to release your fears, awaken your heart, and grow into the person you were meant to be. I hope you’ll check it out; it’s never too late to grow into your best self!  

Nina

One common example of this is the career-focused person who thinks they’ll be happy at the top of the company. They work like crazy for years. They sacrifice friends, family, and leisure time. They tell themselves things will be different and easier at the top and then they’ll have time for x, y, and z. But when they get to the top they realize the hours are still long, they’re disconnected from friends and family and they missed out far too many experiences to count. Reality sets in and they realize everything they lost along the way wasn’t worth the gain.

Granted, not everyone feels this way when they get to the top. And many people feel this way without ever getting to “The Top”; whatever place that may be for you. What’s important is that you’re headed in the right direction for you. YOU are the only one who can decide what direction is the right direction.

So, today I am going to share with you a little bit of that magic by posting here my favorite excerpts, from one of the latest books I bought and hungrily consumed: "Simply Brilliant" written by the founder of Coach University, Thomas J. Leonard.

The book has been around for quite a while, it was published back in 1999 and it basically is a brilliant collection of more than 1.800 small chunks of wisdom, from America's top personal and business Coaches.

I found the book more than just inspiring and probably that's why it looks like it has been through a meat grader, with sticky notes, highlighted paragraphs, underlined quotes and bold exclamation points, from cover to cover.

We have endless lists of what we must, should or have to do, everyday and we also spend so much of our time taking care of others, that we have become accustomed to neglecting our own needs. We feel overwhelmed and frazzled and yet we still move forward, without thinking of taking a breather. 

The stress keeps pilling up and eventually it could take a physical and emotional toll on us --and in most cases it does. But still, the idea of just stopping for a while, sitting back or taking some time to relax, --not to mention pampering ourselves--, simply doesn't feel right.

So, why is it that?

Well, I should know! Why? Because I used to feel compelled to be doing something productive, at all times. I used to have an instant resistance to the very thought of pampering myself. Feelings of guilt were flooding in, every time a thought of self-care, came to mind. Taking time for myself, was some sort of luxury I simply could not afford --well not without the guilt trip, anyway. It took me a lot of time and self monitoring to become aware of the importance of self-care and how productive that can be, in the grand scheme of things.

A toleration is anything --and I mean anything-- you put up with, at home, at work or in your community. Anything that bugs or annoys you about other people or yourself. Even something you are settling for, like an unwanted weight gain, is a toleration.

I was stunned, to know that tolerations can fall into so many categories. I honestly had no idea. So, it's not just the big stuff that we endure --as I thought-- like a dead end job or an unsupported family, that constitute a toleration, it is also the hundreds of tiny nuisances we put up with, every day, like an overdue haircut, a messy desk or a burnt out light bulb. 

Now, here is the deal. 

As human beings, we have the occasional tendency to make excuses. Uh... who am I kidding? We make excuses all day, every day. They come to us, so naturally "I'm so tired now, I do not have time for this", "There is nothing I can do about it, it's out of my control", "Nobody cares about it anyway, why bother?". See? What did I tell you? Easy! 

We are masters at making excuses, anything will do, from our genes to our upbringing and from our particular circumstances to how we are treated by others, we all have a build-in tendency to make excuses. And my question is... 

Somehow this simple, four word phrase, helps my passionate self, break free from my procrastination cocoon and into action.

The deeply alive and decisive part of myself, takes over and I am ready to do the work necessary to create the life I want for myself.