Today we have a guest post from GiveABrick‘s Eleanor! Give a brick is a charity for helping young people; their first project is to create a place where children can play, teens can meet, and older people can hang out in safety and comfort. If you’ve never seen her site it’s worth checking out; lots of fantastic posts on their about life and inspiration.
Without further ado, here’s her post!
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“For every job that must be done there is an element of fun. Find the fun and the job’s a game!” Mary Poppins
With dancing penguins, chalk drawings that come to life and talking mirrors, 1960′s classic Mary Poppins was the perfect inspiration for writing a post for a 3D artist’s blog. It was also my sister’s favourie film when we were growing up so the genius that brought the best word in the world (supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) is engraved in my memory forever.
As is often the case with seemingly trite children’s films, Mary Poppins has some hidden gems. One of these epitomises my life. In a society that rewards effort, hard work and achievement, this won’t be an instant hit but I believe life should be fun.
Boredom is the reason I can’t commit to one particular exercise regime for more than about three consecutive days. Boredom, or dislike of, is also why I love to find something to giggle at in the most mundane settings.
Last week was action packed. I went to London and the excitement this trip caused is illustrative of the mudane my life usually encapsulates. I say this because I’d hate you to suggest that a fun filled life is impossible for those stuck in the nine to five.
Like many, I’ve had my fair share of dull jobs: Saturdays in a shoe shop, evenings and weekends in a supermarket, a petrol station, a call centre and now of course, a teacher 
I’m no stranger to routine and paperwork.
However, and here’s the key, whilst I know that every job brought its tears, challenges, tantrums and headaches, I can honestly say it’s also all been a lot of fun.
For one day only, I’m going to share my top three secrets for finding the fun in every situation.
1. Look for the person
Whatever you do on a daily basis, your path will cross with that of another human being. Even here on the big, open space we call the Internet, human beings are interracting with other human beings. It’s what makes us unique. We were made for relationships. Instead of seeing a sea of faces, look out for individuals with whom you can connect.
2. Make someone smile
I make no secret of the fact that smiling is one of my favourite past times. As I sit here writing this, I’m smiling to myself. Why? Actually, no reason at all really. Just because!
I read a wonderful phrase today:
“Life is like a mirror. We get the best results when we smile at it.”
Whether it be youself or one of the aforementioned individuals you interracting with today, make someone happy, make them smile.
3. “Do the small things”
I’m told this comes courtesy of Wales’ patron saint, David. Look out for the little things that you can do and say today to make life fun, both for yourself and someone else. If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, making this world a fun place has got to start with the little things.
And when it all goes wrong and you have the worst day of your life, what do you do?
Remember Monty Python and always look on the bright side of life. Tomorrow is a brand new day 
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If you enjoyed that post, head over and visit Eleanor’s site (GiveABrick) and check out some of her others/subscribe to her feed.
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[...] exercise’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it Therein lies my problem though. As I said to some friends a couple of months back, I love to have fun. I like to make even the boring stuff fun. How do you do that with 30 minutes [...]
[...] Friday is a time for celebrating our friends. Originally, we were publishing an interview with one specific Give A Brick friend but I’ve decided instead to dedicate today’s post to all our Give A Brick friends. I also need to apologise. As you know already from some of the fund raising videos I’ve put together, I like to have fun. I said as much over at Heather’s Shades of a Dream blog. [...]
Eleanor …
Looking on the bright side I buy unequivocally, making everything fun I would find tiring. There are things that just are not fun but to me enjoyable, and then there are things that are not fun, never will be and I don’t want to put on the Cinderella effort.
Valentina´s last blog ..Romancing Alexa for Blog Supremacy
Hi Valentina,
Apologies for not having read and replied to your comment before now. I understand your not wanting to put on the Cinderella garb. It’s not for everyone. But like how you have things that are not fun but still enjoyable, the stuff that is not fun and never will be, if it is a necessary evil, you can probably find your own unique way of making it more bearable. That’s all I really meant by Cinderella impression.
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Wednesday Warmer: A letter to God
[...] had the opportunity to write a fun guest post for Heather of Shades of a Dream and Dave gave me some excellent advice on structuring the one minute motivators so despite less [...]
Eleanor,
Great to see you her; you’re certainly a busy person.
I remember the Mary poppins film and the longest word ever, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Can you say it backwards?
I bet it beats a lot of those long and well known Welsh words.
Your 3 simple steps; look for the person, make someone smile and do the small things are so accurate for dealing with our daily behaviours. A great strategy!
Then you finish your post with a mention of Monty Pythons; utterly mad people but a great show I remember so well and with fond memories.
Thank you for sharing this post.
Regards
Paul
Paul´s last blog ..When the time is right!
I’m like Lee. I make a contest with myself on routine things to do them better or faster. I also like the Monty Python idea but what I like is seeing things in a different way than they were intended and asking an odd question that people arnt expecting.
Ralph,
Your comment reminds me of what Heather wrote on Sunday. I’ve added it below via comlv. I know you’ve already read and appreciated it but maybe others might get a blast from Heather’s alternative view
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Sunday Surprise: A rose by any other name? A look at life through a different lense
Eleanor!
I use routine to beat the boredom. Every morning I do the same thing. It works, it’s boring but it works.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Maintain Draft Queue with Practical WordPress Tips 1 – 12
Hi Eleanor, good to see you here with Heather (hi Heather). The part that sticks out to me, actually 2 things. 1st is the quote by Mary P. …make a game of it.. I like this.
2nd. is the boredom issue. I have a quote of my own for that that I use all the time for myself. “In order to learn to live happily and free, we must first learn to sacrifice boredom, and it’s not always an easy sacrifice.” I can’t remember the author but I’ll never forget the quote. It has helped me in realizing that it’s ok to give myself permission to be bored sometimes. It’s just OK! and for me this isn’t easy as well as some of you know with the same personality, we constantly got to be doing something. I enjoyed this Eleanor.
Lees Shizzle´s last blog ..A Lesson Worth Learning A Lesson Well Learned
That’s an interestiing quote Lee. I agree that there are some things that have to be done, even if they are boring. However, I prefer tipping stuff on its head and making it fun. The prime example I often share is that of cleaning the shower. It’s not a fun job so I pretend I’m Cinderella (before she catches up with her fairy godmother). Makes it much more entertaining
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..The rudder that’s steering your ship
Keep on the sunny side of life. I do like these tips…especially “look for the person.” What opportunities we can miss when we’re not expecting them.
Carlos Velez´s last blog ..The Law of Attraction Trinity: Connection
I couldn’t agree more (obviously
) but was reminded of this when on the London underground last week. I had a fabulous chat with a lady on there and yet approved practice is not to talk to strangers on the tube. She was great 
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..The rudder that’s steering your ship
Thank you again Eleanor, it’s a great guest post.
Always a pleasure Heather. I enjoyed it
Made me think that maybe after the pre-writing challenge is complete I should use all my extra time to offer some words to others. It’s been fun writing for other people’s audiences.
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..The rudder that’s steering your ship
It’d probably help your blog out too writing for a variety of different blogs/niches
Good luck! (also how’s your challenge going?)
Honestly? Slooooowww
But up my parents for weekend so planning a couple of late night catch ups.
Hehe, ditto that. Thinking I might have some time to catch up on Saturday, at least a little. May sit and draw webcomics all day instead though, hmm…