Stress can be a debilitating condition associated with emotional and physical tension, and anxiety. In order to bring your fun-loving side up, try to reduce or eliminate stress in your life.  Stress can result from both the negative (such as trouble at work or school) and positive (planning a friend's birthday party) events in your life. Nobody is a stranger to stress; however, if you experience stress long-term, it can negatively impact your health. Take steps to control stress and allow yourself to be more fun loving. Stress can be controlled by exercising regularly, resting and relaxing enough, eating a healthy diet, and treating yourself to something special. Like stress, sadness or feeling blue can also affect your emotional and physical well being and dampen your fun-loving side.  If you are sad, you may also suffer from low enthusiasm, lethargy, and/or low self-esteem. If you are feeling low in energy, drive, and hope, it is more challenging to be fun-loving  Sometimes beating sadness can be as easy as leaving the house and diverting your sadness to something positive and fun. When you are feeling blue you might keep yourself isolated and avoid spending time with others. If you find yourself spending all your time alone at home, force yourself out of the house. You can go shopping, walking, or catch a funny movie at the theater. Anything that gets you out of the house and spend time with your friends and family will do. The hardest step is to leave the house, but once you do it and are out, you can often find yourself forgetting the sadness and enjoying life. If you cannot beat your sadness, consider seeking medical attention to determine if you may suffer from depression. Your doctor can prescribe antidepressants to treat depression. Seasonal depression is a common condition; an estimated 6.7% of U.S. population suffered from at least one depressive episode in 2013.  Caution: serious, untreated depression can lead to suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know suffer from depression or a depressive episode, seek help immediately. If you feel that you are not fun-loving because you never do anything that is fun, then the only way to fix that is to find an activity that makes you happy and excited.  The activity that makes you happy can differ tremendously depending what type of person you are. Extroverts can find their happiness by seeking crowds and being in the center of attention, while introverts may find their energy in solitude. Whatever the activity, you need to figure it out yourself and then just do it.  If you love the outdoors and enjoy the nature, go hiking, skiing, running, swimming, or bicycling. These are easy-to-do activities that require little planning and equipment and you can easily do by yourself. Or try something new and go horseback riding, rock climbing, parasailing, backpacking, etc. You may surprise yourself and find an inner happiness you never knew existed. If you are the type that requires company and/or encouragement to try new things, ask your friend or spouse to come along. Finding a new hobby to do together can be a great way to bring your fun-loving side up too. Negative thoughts and feelings have the capability to bring you down and lower your self-esteem. Learning to see the positive side in life can have a transforming effect and allow you to release your fun-loving side..  You may not always be able to control your external environment, but you can control your inner thoughts. Even in tough situations, thinking positively can help you overcome barriers and release your fun-loving side. Seek situations that bring out the best in you and then learn to transfer that feeling to situations that might not bring out the best in you. This way you can learn to think positively even in situations that might normally bring out negative thoughts. Focus on what is good in your life and write it down on a paper. Then carry that paper with you. When you find yourself down or unhappy, read through that list and try to change your negative thoughts to positive thoughts (e.g., the glass is half full, not half empty). You can also break free from negative thoughts by telling yourself “I can” and not allowing disrespectful people or bad situations bring you down. Being able to be more fun-loving means you need to honor and love yourself first. Honoring yourself means to honor your life and what you have accomplished and created. This includes friendships, family, children, and even strangers that you have connected with..  In order to honor yourself, you need to accept yourself for who you are. Only when you understand who you are and can embrace that person, can you bring your fun-loving side up. To learn to honor yourself, list your biggest achievements on a paper (e.g., graduated from school, had children, bought a house, climbed a mountain, achieved a personal goal, etc). Then, focus on those achievements and allow yourself to gain respect for yourself through them. Sometimes being more fun loving means you need to allow yourself to try new things instead of only doing things you have become comfortable or accustomed with.  Often times we keep ourselves contained in a zone where we are comfortable, but that does not mean that is the place we are happiest. Allow yourself to try new things, take chances, and have fun. However, there are limitations to what you can and what you should do and you should never try or do things that cause harm to you or others. To break out, first understand your comfort zone and how you tend to stay in it naturally. Once you understand your comfort zone, change your normal way of thinking and acting and slowly break out of it. For example, start by making a list of all the things that you do to avoid uncertainty (e.g., are there situations that you avoid, do you check on your kids constantly, do you suffer from lack of trust).  Once you have your list, start by picking the small items that you can do to break out of the cycle (e.g., go to a place you have never visited before, seek situations you normally avoid, allow yourself to be more trusting). Keep a record of all the times you succeeded in your goal and what happened (e.g., what happened when you visited a new place or pursued an unfamiliar situation).

Summary: Control your stress. Deal with sadness. Find an activity that makes you happy. Learn to think more positively. Honor and respect yourself. Break out of your comfort zone.


Applying relaxer will be painful if your scalp is already irritated in any way. For this reason, it’s best to not wash your hair or scratch your head at all for at least the week leading up to application. If you do accidentally scratch your scalp, the relaxer will likely make your head tingle. You’ll be working with dangerous chemicals that can harm your skin and possibly damage your clothes. Get a hairdresser’s cape and plastic gloves and put them on before handling the relaxer to prevent any harm or damage. Keep a towel or two on standby in case you have any spills. The chemicals you’re dealing with may stain clothing, furniture, and other things they touch, so it’s best to clean any spills up immediately. Because relaxer can irritate your skin, it’s a great idea to apply a base cream directly to the scalp to protect it. Part your hair in multiple places and apply the base to your scalp. Don’t forget to apply the base to your hairline and around your ears as well. Petroleum jelly is also a sufficient protective base option. Use a comb to divide your hair evenly into 4-6 different sections. Secure the sections with plastic hair clips or rubber bands. Avoid any hair ties or clips that have metal.
Summary: Don’t shampoo or scratch your scalp before relaxing your hair. Put on gloves and a cape. Get out a couple of towels in case of spills. Apply a protective base cream to the scalp and hairline. Divide your hair into 4-6 sections.