You might think of a fun-loving person as someone who is the life and soul of the party.
They’re always up for a good time, and so everyone loves to hang out with them.
But there’s far more to it than that.
Although it’s part of it, what really makes someone fun-loving runs deeper than just being up for a laugh.
Here are the signs you are a fun-loving person, who brings joy to others.
1) You can show your silly side
It’s hard to be fun-loving when you’re totally preoccupied with what others think of you.
This is why the people who bring the most joy can show up as themselves.
You’re not too image conscious that you can’t show your playful side.
You are happy to make yourself the butt of the joke. You don’t always have to take yourself so seriously.
Of course, we all wear different hats in life.
Sometimes we need to put our serious hats on.
Let’s face it, it can be pretty annoying when someone always plays the clown.
There are definitely times in life when maturity is required.
But there are still plenty of times when laughter is the best medicine.
We like people with a sense of humour.
If you can lighten up and get in touch with your inner eternal child, you’re fun-loving.
3) You embrace spontaneity
What can be more boring than endless routine?
Sure, routine is useful, even necessary in a lot of circumstances.
We’ve all got responsibilities. People rely on us. Heck, we rely on ourselves.
Routines are what undoubtedly keep life ticking over in some kind of order.
But the funny thing about us human beings is that to feel happy, we crave both safety and change.
Embracing something new is what keeps life interesting.
A great way to inject that is with a little bit of spontaneity.
Throwing caution to the wind and shaking things up.
Maybe that’s exploring somewhere new. Hopping on a plane last minute. Or being up for a last-minute hangout.
Doing things differently once in a while helps to make you more fun-loving.
3) You’re welcoming and warm to everyone you meet
Fun-loving people who bring joy wherever they go essentially spread good vibes.
They often do this with the humble act of kindness.
One of the easiest ways to make someone happy is to be nice to them.
I know it sounds a bit obvious, but it’s true. So we’ve got to add it to our list.
Plus, I think we could all probably do with a reminder of the importance of being friendly and warm.
Because even though we all know it, let’s face it, it doesn’t make it easy to do.
The truth is we can all lose our cool.
When we’re having a bad day or when someone tries our patience, we can snap.
Or we may be tempted to quickly judge a book by its cover — deciding you don’t like someone before you even get to know them.
But if we want to spread joy, we’d all do well to spread greater compassion and kindness.
4) You’ve made friends with yourself
What do I mean by that?
Well, I’m talking about the perfect blend of self-love and self-awareness.
Liking yourself is one of the best ways to be more of a more fun-loving person.
Because all that stress and negativity that self-loathing and self-recrimination takes up is enough to drag anyone down.
Once you cultivate strong self-worth and self-compassion, it’s far easier to extend your positivity to others.
That’s exactly why it’s never selfish to work on yourself or fill your own cup first.
Because it’s far easier to bring joy to others when it’s something we’re already embodying within.
The better friend you become to yourself, the more self-awareness you’re going to cultivate.
You come to understand what makes you tick.
That makes you a far better person to be around. Because without self-awareness it’s hard to grow.
With it, we can recognize not only our strengths but also our weaknesses.
We can then strive to improve and correct our less desirable traits.
We can see how we can better ourselves, and that’s bound to improve your relationships alongside it.
5) You are in touch with your emotions
We all want to be liked. We all want to be seen as fun.
But there’s a danger that we mistakenly equate being a fun-loving person with needing to be endlessly upbeat.
The reality is that life doesn’t work like that.
We all experience a wide range of emotions.
We all have bad days. We all wake up on the wrong side of the bed sometimes.
There will be things that bring pain, suffering, and sadness.
Rather than push these things away, we need to allow ourselves to feel the negative emotions, just as we do the joyous ones.
Fun-loving people are in touch with their feelings — all of them — the good and the bad.
That helps them to move through challenging emotions rather than get stuck.
But they’re certainly not afraid to cry, lean on others for support, or ask for help.
They know this is a sign of emotional strength, not weakness.
And it’s this emotional strength that allows them to get back up again whenever they feel like life knocks them down.
6) You find healthy outlets for your stress
So if we accept that even the most fun-loving people in life experience difficulties, what helps them to keep a positive and upbeat outlook?
One important aspect is how they handle stress and anxiety that comes along.
They seek to find healthy outlets.
It’s important for our health and well-being to do so.
What sort of outlets?
Things like:
- Talking to people about how you feel
- Exercise
- Getting enough sleep
- Mindfulness movements, like yoga or tai chi
- Meditation
- Journaling
Nobody is immune to the pressures of life, but fun-loving people who bring joy to others find coping techniques.
They know what to do to diffuse the pressure.
7) You don’t sweat the small stuff
Life’s short, and fun-loving people know this.
That’s why there are just certain things in life we shouldn’t bother wasting our time and energy on.
Of course, that can be easier said than done.
Who hasn’t spent too much time dwelling on a past mistake, or tied themselves in knots worrying about something you can do nothing about?
I know I certainly have on way too many occasions.
But the less you sweat the small stuff, the lighter life becomes.
That means being able to stop and ask yourself:
Does this matter?
In the grand scheme of things, is this really important?
When you catch yourself starting to lose your peace of mind about something that isn’t such a big deal — you can choose to let it go or reframe the situation.
You can focus instead on the things that you do have an influence over.
8) You’re curious
Curiosity is one of the most important human traits.
Think about it:
Where would we be right now if it wasn’t for mankind’s curiosity?
It’s one of the things that set us apart and has helped us to become the most dominant species on the planet.
As Tom Stafford explains in a BBC article titled “Why are we so curious?”:
“Curiosity is nature’s built-in exploration bonus. We’re evolved to leave the beaten track, to try things out, to get distracted and generally look like we’re wasting time. Maybe we are wasting time today, but the learning algorithms in our brain know that something we learnt by chance today will come in useful tomorrow.”
“Evolution made us the ultimate learning machines, and the ultimate learning machines need a healthy dash of curiosity to help us take full advantage of this learning capacity.”
If you’re curious you are an eternal learner who is open-minded to new experiences and new ways of thinking.
You are interested in people and the world around you, and that makes you an interesting person to be around.
9) You push your comfort zone
It’s hard to be fun-loving if you’re busy hiding from life.
There’s no way around it:
Often the most fun things in life tend to carry a certain amount of risk.
And I’m not necessarily talking about going bungee jumping or heli-skiing.
It could be the courage to fall in love and risk having your heart broken.
Or the strength to chase your dreams, even when you have no idea whether you’ll reach them.
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that everything you want is waiting on the other side of fear.
When you push your comfort zone you build your confidence and your resilience.
You become a positive example to those around you.
Being prepared to push your limits and step outside of your comfort zone stops life from getting boring.
And that is for sure, going to make you a more fun-loving person to be around.
Bottomline: Fun-loving people are people you can be yourself around
There are for sure certain things that make someone more fun-loving.
Whether that’s a kind heart, a good sense of humour, a wild curiosity, or a taste for adventure.
But at the end of the day, everybody’s version of fun is going to be different.
Personally, I hate rides and am always the person who holds the bags at a theme park.
I love a night in far more than a big night out.
And I like to have big detailed discussions about topics that I know would bore some people to tears.
Am I boring?
To some people, absolutely. But to others, no way.
It’s important to remember that being fun-loving is also about finding your crowd.
When we’re with like-minded people who help us to be ourselves, we’re all capable of being both fun-loving and bringing joy to those around us.