Name: 聽演講 | 學英文 | 這篇TED演講太療癒了！快樂，其實可以很簡單！中英對照 Learn English with TED Speech 英語学習 | 英文演讲 | ted talks
Uploaded: 2025-08-31T04:27:58.000Z
Duration: 12 min 42 s
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Modal verbs - A2

You know what's a lot harder than it seems like it should be?

And what I mean by that is that we are all constantly doing, or at least we're constantly scrolling.

You know, we keep ourselves busy to the point of exhaustion, but we're also languishing.

I think that's part of the reason we keep ourselves so busy.

We're so busy and distracted to begin with, but we don't know what to do about it.

So I am here to tell you, I've figured out what to do about it.

You know what I mean?  You know what I mean?

So you might think that you're already having plenty of fun, and that's because in our everyday speech, we often use the word fun to describe anything we do with our leisure time, even if it's not actually enjoyable and, in fact, a waste of time.

So for example, we scroll through social media for fun, even though doing so often makes us feel bad about, like, kind of everything.

Or we'll say, that was so fun, we should do that again soon, in response to things that weren't that fun and that we don't want to do again ever.

But it's not really our fault that we're a little bit sloppy about how we use the word fun, because even the dictionary doesn't get it quite right.

You know, it says that fun is amusement or enjoyment or lighthearted pleasure.

It's something for kids to have in play areas.

It makes it sound like it's frivolous and optional.

But if you think back on your own memories that stand out to you as having truly been fun, and I really encourage you to do this, you know, the memories that you would describe as, and forgive me for our scientific terminology, so fun, you're going to notice that there's something much deeper going on.

I've collected thousands of these stories from people all around the world, and I can tell you it's amazing, because when people recount the memories in which they had the most fun, they tell you about some of the most joyful and treasured memories of their lives.

So in reality, fun is not just lighthearted pleasure.

It's not just for kids, and it is definitely not frivolous.

Instead, fun is the secret to feeling alive.

So today, I want to propose to you a new, more precise definition of what fun is.

I want to reveal some of the ways in which it is astonishingly good for us, and I want to give you all some suggestions for things you can do, starting right now, to experience its power for yourself.

So the first thing we need to start with is the fact that fun is a feeling, and it's not an activity.

And that's important, because a lot of times when I ask people, what's fun, they'll respond with a list of activities that they enjoy.

You know, they'll say dancing is fun, or skiing is fun, or, I don't know, pickleball is fun.

Everyone seems to think that pickleball is fun.

And sure, pickleball can be fun, but we've all had experiences where something's off, and an activity that seems like it would be fun doesn't end up feeling fun.

And then on the flip side, we've had experiences where something that doesn't seem like it would be fun at all ends up feeling ridiculously fun.

But when people do have fun, when they experience this feeling, it's actually very easy to recognize, because people who are having fun look like they're being illuminated for a reason.

So for example, here's me and my husband having fun together.

Here are some presidents having fun together.

Here's Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama having fun together.

Actually, those two seem like they were very often, even constantly, having fun together.

And as you can see in these photographs, true fun produces this visceral sense of lightness and joy.

In fact, when I asked my daughter when she was about five years old what color fun would be, she said sunshine.

You know, what is this feeling that we call fun?

Well, when people tell me their stories about fun, it's really interesting, because the details are all different and often quite mundane, but the energy running through them is the same.

And there are three factors that are consistently present to the point that I believe they constitute a new definition, one that is a lot more accurate than what's in the dictionary.

And those three factors are playfulness, connection and flow.

So by playfulness, I do not mean you have to play games or, God forbid, make-believe.

I just mean having a lighthearted attitude of doing things for the sake of doing them and not caring too much about the outcome, letting go of perfectionism.

When we have fun, our guard is down, and we're not taking ourselves too seriously.

Connection refers to the feeling of having a special, shared experience.

And I do think it's possible in some circumstances to have fun alone and for this feeling of connection to be with yourself or the surroundings or the activity.

But in the majority of stories that people tell me about their peak fun memories, another person is involved, and that's true even for introverts.

And then flow is the state where we are so engaged and focused on whatever we're doing that we can even lose track of time.

You can think about an athlete in the middle of a game or a musician playing a piece of music.

It's possible to be in flow and not have fun, like if you're arguing, but you cannot have fun if you are not in flow.

So playfulness, connection and flow all feel great on their own, but when we experience all three at once, something magical happens.

In fact, fun does so many amazingly good things for us that I personally believe that fun is not just the result of human thriving, it's a cause.

When people tell me their stories about fun, they glow.

It is like a fire has been lit inside of them, and the energy and the warmth that they give off is contagious.

You know, so much of life drains us, but fun fills us up.

A lot of us put a lot of work into trying to be more present.

We do yoga classes, we meditate, and that is all great.

But the fact that fun is a flow state means that when we are having fun, we simply are present.

We live in a really polarized world, and as we all know, there's a lot of very serious problems.

But when we have fun with people, we don't see them as different political parties or nationalities or religions.

And it's worth noting that that is the first step in being able to work together to solve those problems.

Now, being lonely and stressed out, as many of us have been for the past two years, causes hormonal changes in our bodies that increase our risks for disease.

But when we have fun, we're relaxed and we're more socially connected, both of which have the opposite effect.

So it kind of blows my mind every time I think about it this way, but having fun is a health intervention.

You know, we all so desperately want to be happy.

We read books about happiness, we download apps about happiness, but when we are in a moment of having fun, we are happy.

So it makes me think that perhaps the secret to long-term happiness is just to have more everyday moments of fun.

Well, to start with, do not take the suggestions you will find in magazine articles about how to have more fun.

So I looked up some of these myself, and I found suggestions that include, and I'm not making these up, roast a turkey.

And put together an altar to loved ones who have passed.

And watch a documentary about climate change.

And my personal favorite, adorn your table with gourds.

Instead, the most effective thing you can do to have more fun is to focus on its ingredients, by which I mean do everything you can to fill your life with more moments of playfulness, connection and flow.

So to start with, reduce distractions in order to increase flow.

Anything that distracts you is going to kick you out of flow and prevent you from having fun.

And what's the number one source of distraction for most of us these days?