Exercise #6 Part 1

            There are so many fun activities that one can do in life. However, due to barriers in the form of high costs, little free time, and fear, people are restricted from completing them. Five activities that I would love to do are sky diving, going on an upside-down rollercoaster, watch the sun set and rise, swim with dolphins, and go camping. Since I could not complete all of these activities in a week, I decided to pick just one. The one fun activity that I chose to follow through on is watching the sun set and rise.

            On the first Saturday of vacation, I spent the night at my cousin’s house. My cousins and I are extremely close, and every time that we are in each others company, we always end up having the best of times, because we always find ourselves doing the most outrageous activities. I knew that if I wanted to complete one of my fun activities, I would have most luck proposing it to them. After sharing with them my list of ideas, we decided that watching the sun set and rise was the perfect fit. It doesn’t cost anything to look at the sky, when most of my ideas do, and it is easy to watch sun, because you can do it anywhere. It also ended up being a wonderful night for sky gazing, for Princeton, NJ was a pleasant 80 degrees, so we wouldn’t be cold staying outside. Once night time started approaching, we all went outside on their patio, set up comfortably on the comfy chairs, and watched in awe as the sun began to disappear behind the trees and out of the sky completely. We then made our way back inside, set our alarm to wake us up before the sun rose, and headed to sleep. When the alarm went off in the pitch black sky, we all stumbled out of bed, and headed back outside to our gazing set up. As we sat and waited for the sun to peak its head over the towering trees, we chatted and laughed sleepily. At last the sky began to lighten, and the whole landscape was lit up with soft colors. We stayed outside until the sun was fully up, and morning had officially came. Then, we made our way back to bed with accomplished smiles on our faces.

            I was happy that we were able to accomplish that goal. Seeing the sun set and rise was an extremely powerful thing to witness. Never before was I fully aware of Mother Nature’s beauty, until now. Although it was subtle and something that happens daily, I completely took the sun’s beauty for granted. But after witnessing it, especially with people I love, I am more humbled.

            Some major roadblocks that keep people from completing fun activities include money, time, and fear. If one is not fortunate to have an endless supply of cash, they are prohibited from taking part in some of the more expensive fun activities. For me, my goal of swimming with dolphins has not yet been accomplished because I not only don’t have the time to fly to a tropical location, but I also don’t have the money to be spending on extra things like that. Time is another huge set back. The people of today’s world are always moving fast and never slowing down. They, like me, cram their days full of activities from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed, most of which do not bring happiness to their lives. Because of this, they do not have the time in their day to spend doing something that is not a necessary activity, such as those listed on my fun list. Also, fear can play a big role in holding people back. For me, I am afraid of upside down roller coasters. However, I really want to go on one. It doesn’t matter how often I go to amusement parks and wait in line for the crazy, upside-down rides, I always chicken out at the last minute, never going on one. If I could just overcome my fear, then it would open me up to a whole no realm of fun activities that would bring happiness and joy to my life.

            Although it may seem hard and unnecessary to spend time and effort completing fun activities, it is actually an important thing to do. By taking part in things that bring you happiness, you are therefore lightening up your day, and making your life a more joyous one, which is extremely important and necessary!