MEfirst Midlife Badassery Podcast

S3 Ep 207: Fun Is Future-Self Fuel: 5 Ways to Light Up Your Life Again

Slayer Season 3 Episode 207

In this episode, Addie B — your resident Sagittarius fun-factory and badass midlife cheerleader — drops a truth bomb: we’ve become fun-school dropouts. Life got busy, serious, hormonal, structured, and suddenly FUN became something we “hope” happens instead of something we intentionally create.

Addie shares how fun is absolutely not optional — it’s essential for your nervous system, creativity, weight loss, energy, and future self magic. She walks through her own transformation, including the moment 300-lb Miserable Addie made her first “Everyday Adventure List”… and how tiny adventures like meditation, aerial yoga, roller skating, hiking, and new experiences opened the gates to joy, soul-alignment, and 120 lbs lost.

She reminds us that fun is fuel. Fun is frequency. And fun is the damn doorway back to YOU.

Then she gives you five simple, powerful tools to bring fun back into your world — starting TODAY.

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Welcome to Sagittarius Season, baby! This week, Slayer is lighting a fire under your ass (a joyful one, promise) to help you intentionally seek FUN again — because fun isn’t dessert. Fun is soul-nourishment, future-self fuel, and nervous-system regulation wrapped in one big irreverent glitter bomb.

Inside this episode:

🔥 Why Most Midlife Women Accidentally Quit Fun

We slip into autopilot.
 We forget what lights us up.
 We lose novelty.
 We prioritize chores over joy.
 We stay “productive” instead of “alive.”

Slayer calls BS.

🔥 How 300-lb “Ball-of-Misery Addie” Saved Herself With an Everyday Adventure List

Addie shares how trying new things — meditation, aerial yoga, hiking, roller skating — sparked massive transformation and opened the door to 120 lbs lost, a spiritual awakening, and a whole-ass MEfirst movement.

🔥 The 5 Fun Tools You Can Use TODAY

  1. Energy Audit – What gives energy vs drains it?
  2. Hell Yes / Hell No Body Scan – Your body is the compass.
  3. Play History Excavation – Childhood fun holds the map.
  4. Novelty Hits – Micro adventures = dopamine resets.
  5. Micro-Joy Hunt – Collect tiny sparkly moments of joy.

🔥 Real-Life Fun in Action

From Addie’s daughter sewing handbags in Phoenix…
 to lazy river mornings…
 to Golden Girls Clue nights…
 to building a business that feels like recess —
 this episode is a permission slip to PLAY.

🔥 Your Fun Challenge

Ask yourself:
 “How do I intentionally create fun this week?”
Try a new thing. Take a different route. Create your own Everyday Adventure List.

Your future self will be screaming “HELL YES.”


Full Transcript: 

 What's up, witches and bitches? Let's have some fun today. It is SAG season. We are headed into it. And guess who's a Sagittarius? If you didn't know. That's me and I'm here to bring it. Let's bring the fun. This is like a month of high vibe and energy on your way. Courteous of Sagittarius.

However much you buy into all of that, I'm feeling it. So it, it must be true. Truth is what happens here on the. Me first, midlife Badass Ery podcast and hope, hopefully some fun, which is the topic of our podcast today. Because I was like, in our coaching group this morning, we were all talking about like, let's just have some fun.

Like how do we have fun? I've been playing around over on this school app and I've got some really cool shit coming you guys, like, I'm so excited to invite you to it. I wanna just jump and do it right now and have you all get in there and help me create it. But I also know I'm working until December 16th.

We still have 23 days of me working and I don't want, I want to be all in on it. So it can be a spectacular, as I know I want it to be. So anyhow, what I'm learning over there is I can't tell you that these groups, I'm just having fri. Fun. Like I'm five, like it's just like dropping gifts and I'm irreverent and I'm like, you know, you find your people and that is so true.

Wherever you are, and like I always say, if you're here listening to me, you're my people, right? We're each other's people, like we find each other through. It might be through a meme or. GIF or an offhanded comment or something along those lines. That's I think how you truly get to know each other and so much of that is wrapped up in just having fun.

Like aren't you just sick of it all being so serious? We even start to make like fun self-help, shit serious, you know? And here's the thing, fun isn't an option, right? This is like stuff our soul needs. So today my goal is to leave you with five, like fun hacks, way to like bring the fun out in your life again.

And who doesn't need more of that, right? But before that, I wanna talk a little bit about why it matters and some things that have happened to me on my journey of transformations. Plural, that fun has always been a key. And yes, it's one of my core values. It's like everything I judge in my life is somewhere in there.

And adventure is wrapped in with fun for me, right? Like trying new things, adventure. But even if it's not your core value, you need some fun, some kind of fun in your life. So we are going to bust this out today and talk about how maybe you can be lightened that up a little bit more in your world. You know, I think we take a lot of time to plan vacations, plan for our kids, plan meals even.

But are you intentionally planning fun? Like do we don't sit. Think, oh, you know what? I've got a free Saturday. What can I do for fun? Unless you've been to my workshops. And then of course we spend a lot of time doing that because what happens is you get a free Saturday and you end up in front of Netflix or like me today and cleaning your closet.

But there's a good reason for that because I'm clearing my. Space to create for what's coming next for Mimi Baking this big launch from working for the man into working for the woman, all of you, right? Like, I can't wait. I'm so frigging excited to create some fun. Like everything I'm creating now that I know, I learned so much of this while I was running my business before, right?

My core values being fun, inspiration, authenticity, and how do I build around that and my human design so that we can just have a blast together and learn and move forward and create these badass alter egos that can light the world up and be your slayer, that persona you put on as you're becoming that expert.

Version of yourself. It's just so powerful. I can't wait. Okay, so let's get into the fun a little bit. Why it matters. I don't think I've taken time to define fun in this way. Like why does it really matter that we have fun and it is a nervous system regulator. Right. Think about when you have fun, when that brings joy into your world, it's just like gratitude, right?

It's a high vibration. It makes you respond with, it's an energy creator, right? It's also this center of your creativity and problem solving when you're having fun. Those areas of your brain are lit up more. It also will instigate weight loss and energy shifting, right? When you're having fun tying into that ultra ego and like, what would slayer do that badass, well, she'd slay that shit.

You know, like, what does it look like when you're having fun with it and it expands this, it makes this whole sense of infinite possibilities, right? Like, what, what if. What if we are these spiritual beings in this human body and we need to stop taking also frigging seriously and have some fun here? What would you create?

You truly know you're infinite and you're here just to have fun in this world and not to make, uh, buy a bigger home and a bigger, with a bigger fence and a bigger car. And what? Like all the things, right? Not that there's anything wrong with having those things. Hey, I want money and shit too. But is it the purpose?

Right? And what if it's just to have, how much fun and joy can you have in this world? What does that open up for? The possibilities for you? And this is a frequency you choose, right? When you're choosing fun, you're choosing that higher vibration. So it's really. Future self fuel if you think about it.

That's what fun is. That's right. So I wanna get into these five ways you can start to tap into more fun in your life. And I just want you to like try to incorporate even a couple of these this week. You could do all of 'em 'cause they're pretty simple, but like this to give you some action because typically we don't take time to intentionally.

Think about seeking fun or joy or new things. We just let life happen to us 'cause we're so frigging busy. I get, I get it. I been, I'm on the hamster wheel. I'm right there too. And it's been a struggle to create fun. But things like me going to walk the lazy river in the morning, right? Or trying stand up yoga at the gym.

'cause I saw someone doing that. You know, I need to do that by the way. I still haven't done that. Those kind of things I have to intentionally think of putting into my life. Here's the truth you guys. You know, I think it's totally normal for us to like be fun school dropouts. You know? Like, hey, we have all this responsibility.

We're on routine autopilot hormone frigging chaos. Oh my God, right? Care taken of other people overthinking shit. We forget what it even feels like. We become productive instead of like lighten this bitch up. You know what I mean? So, but you're not missing the fun, right? Fun is missing you because we just forgot how and where to look for it.

So don't worry, we're gonna get there. I wanna tell you, take you back to 300 pound ball of misery Addie, in 2017. And the thing that got me up and I was reading these funny little books called um, the Everyday. Adventure list or the everyday bucket list by Lillian Blake. And it was about this heavy set girl and who like had this big bucket list, but she was gonna do it when she got thin and she decided, fuck that, I'm gonna do it right now.

So she started to like knock these things off her adventure list and I thought, why don't I have an everyday adventure list? That's silly. I've got this big bucket list, like I'm gonna go. Travel all of Europe and I'm going to like all these big things, but I didn't have like an everyday bucket list, like things I could just go try and so I started making a list.

I was like, well, you know, I think I wanna try meditation because I kind of like at the end of yoga, that place I feel, I'm like, I think that's meditation. So I put that on the list. And I put, um, aerial yoga and I put, um, a bunch of other stuff that, like different hikes and things like that. And I started trying 'em and like as soon as I made that list, you guys, the transcendental meditation came in my feed.

And you probably heard this story a million times, but for the new people, we're just gonna suffer through it one more time. You're welcome. So it came in my feed and I'm like. Oh, okay. The, it kind of looked culty to me like, 'cause I was very not into meditation or anything. Like I didn't know anything about this world, the yoga world, right?

And um, just the world of uncovering your soul world, like I had no clue. I was like, well, that looks like a cult, but hell, I'm already miserable, so what can happen? Suck me in. So I went to this free intro course and I. Sign up and uh, 'cause the guy said, Hey, if you do this twice a day for a year, you'll not be the same person.

And I went and I signed up and sure enough, like within two weeks my daughter was telling me, whatever you're doing, mom, keep it up. And I was like, oh, I didn't even know. She noticed it was just 20 minutes, twice a day that I'd sit still and say this mantra. But all of a sudden, you guys, things started to change and shift.

And this might not seem like fun. It really opened the gates to so much fun in my life and just like trying those other new things like leading me to go to an aerial yoga class. No, that was so fun. If you have not done that yet, go hang in a hammock, right? Like there's so much fun. It's like you're a kid again.

And what are all these things that we miss doing as we get older? What's fun? We go to dinner in a movie and eat popcorn, right? Is that like what fun has become. You know, and then I start getting into hiking and all of those things. But don't underestimate the fun list. Don't underestimate trying new things and where it might lead you and how much fun and how much soul opening might come out of that, because it did for me, that led to 120 pound weight.

Learning meditation from trying a new thing. That was fun because I got out, I met new people. I'm meditating. Minnie Slayer did that this week. So at our quarterly events we talk about, and my daughter comes to these, we talk about, Hey, what new things are we gonna try this quarter? What's that look like?

And she's wanted to sew, she's wanted to make her own clothes for. Ever. And she got a sewing machine and she can't do it. And she saw this girl on TikTok and she had an in-person sewing thing in Phoenix and Lexi went and made a handbag and made a friend. And I haven't heard my kid be this light up in for lit up in forever you guys.

And we're missing this. Stuff, right? The miss and the making friends and doing things like that where we get out and try something new. Okay? So let's make this about you because let, let's be clear, like maybe you are having a ton of fun in your life and, and you're right where you wanna be, but maybe you can add a little bit more, you know, it might even look something like, I used to just take a different way to work sometimes, or go in a new coffee shop.

Like that can even be a little adventure for yourself. So let's get into it. First thing we're gonna do this week, and as we head into this, you guys, is really pay attention to what lights you up and what drains you. Like even when you're hearing about doing something, you know, sometimes I have to actually physically do it.

Sometimes I have no visceral response to it, but sometimes I know like. Where I'm gonna get energy from. So think about things you like to do and what gives you energy and what drains you. So like when you do a puzzle, does that give you energy or does it suck the life out of you? You know, when you go to meet your girlfriends at the coffee shop, give you energy, suck the life outta you, like which one is it?

Start to track like the areas you think you have fun right now. Do they give you energy or do you feel like you have less energy when you're done? And just take note of that, right? Because fun will give you energy. We'll create energy. And I don't mean like sometimes I can have fun on a hike and I'm physically tired.

That's different than if I'm like. Not energized by the hike itself, by being in the woods or on the mountain or something like that. If not, I'm gonna find another activity to do. Why would I suffer through that when there's a million fun things I can do to move my body? Okay, so the second thing you're gonna do is the, oh hell yeah.

Or the, oh fuck, no. Body scan, right? Like, and this is when. Your, your body as your compass. Like, does this feel good to me or not To me, when you're doing the thing or thinking of doing the thing, does, you know, funnel, feel like you get tingles, warmth, you start to grin a little or Ooh. Yeah. That like, yeah, I'll go meet you to paint some pottery.

Right? Or I'll go to the wine and sip thing with you. Right? Like, what does that look like? Does that sound like fauna, eh. No, and then you just make decisions, right? We're at the stage in the life where we don't frigging care anymore. I can tell you, no, I can set some boundaries, you know? Now here's where it comes in as you're making this everyday adventure fun list, or you're just thinking about or writing in your journal.

Maybe you're just thinking as you're listening to this podcast, but I highly recommend getting some of this stuff written down. But this is an activity from the artist's way, and it's, um. Going back to your history, right? Going back to your childhood and what did you think was fun? What was a good time for you?

You know, funny enough, I was thinking, I was like, you know what I used to always love to do? I would set up audiences with my little stuffed animals and I'd put on plays, and then as I got older I would like, um. Play school with my friends and I would make homework for them and my brothers and make them sit there, do the work.

This is like me with the me first guide. Now I've just figured out how to make it even more fun. But apparently I made it fun 'cause we're all like 8, 9, 10 years old and they sat there and did it right. And we'd put on plays, musicals, we'd make little pamphlets to like call everybody in and, but it wasn't like.

Me doing it, but I like look back and I was like, oh, it's definitely ring lading that, you know what I mean? But it was all of us like doing it together. It was so much fun. But yeah, I'm a little bossy with that too. So think thinking of things like that, but then also stuff like, yeah, I used to love to do puzzle play boggle with my mom.

You know, how can I play games more? And sometimes just thinking about it will make it happen. You know, like, I know I'm gonna play some clue in a month when I'm, uh, with the kids in, uh, Lexi's place. That's our new thing is Golden Girls Clue. But I mean, other than like board games and things like that, you know, when I went to summer camp, I loved the comradery.

I loved building things in the woods. I loved hiking. I love games. I love sports. Like, there's so much of that stuff. Roller skating. So I started roller skating again and got some roller blades. Look back to your childhood and what things did you like to do or maybe you wanted to do, who did you envy in the neighborhood that they got to do what?

Guess what, you're a grown up ass adult now. You can go do it, right? Like go do those things that we didn't get a chance to do. Especially while we still can, you know, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling my body becoming a little bit different and really wanting to protect it so much more in so many ways and get it strong and thinking about.

Oh wow, man. Like in the next 20 or 30 years to be able to have done these fun things. Right, and, and do them safely, I should say. 'cause I'll probably still be out there doing 'em. Okay, so you're gonna go back to your childhood, look at some fun things. Maybe you pick up like. One little thing that you're gonna try, and maybe it's not this week, maybe you save it, but like it's in your mind now.

You're gonna be thinking of it just from listening to this podcast and then this week look for like little joy. You're on a little joy hunt this week. How many things can you find? Things like, you know that planner you really like when you open it and you've got that perfect pen in the morning, the sunshine streaming in the window on you.

Or maybe you go outside and you catch a good sunrise on a walk or something, or even sitting in your car, right? Like sometimes I'll be on my drive home and I'll be like. There's a be beautiful sunset. I'm like, take this moment and just be joyful. For what? A frigging gorgeous sunset like I could be somewhere in traffic, not looking at this gorgeous sunset right now.

Like, look joy, right? And then we're also bringing in some gratitude here 'cause it is Thanksgiving week. So, you know, let's be grateful as well. Um, dancing in the shower, that's fun, right? Like these little joys. Being in groups where you're dropping silly memes where you're just being yourself or you're hanging out and just having fun, letting it go.

This is the world I'm gonna create. Like I want your ass in there pretending like you're 10. Okay. We don't want any adult shit, and we got enough adulting going on. We're gonna self-help. Like we're also 10 year olds, but we're also 50. Plus year olds, right? I don't mean to offend anybody. If you're 40 to 70, 80, 90, you could be here.

I love you. I had posted something Gen X the other day and I, I'll be like, I didn't realize how close to the cusp. I guess I kind of am. 'cause I think we got some boomers and then like Lexi's a millennial and she does all this stuff too. So just know if I ever refer to like my age, I'm never leaving you out because it's all of us badass witches and bitches, right?

So, uh, what about like when you have a really cute outfit or a good hair day or, um, you know, you had a really great presentation, just like, look for that little stuff, right? Like people smiling at you at the grocery store or something. Little joys. Pick 'em up, pick 'em all up all week long and see how you feel and let's roll that into gratitude for Thanksgiving.

Right. And then what can you do? Let's say you normally work and maybe you don't, but maybe you normally work and you've also got Friday off. Maybe you got a four day weekend. I took time off on the backside 'cause my birthday is Saturday. What? What? I don't, how old am I gonna be? Like 53 I think. 72. I was born in 72, so you guys do the math.

So I think I'm 53 and I think Millie and I are going to have an adventure day, but on Friday I work, but I'm taking a lunch hour and doing the HD business design for what I'm preparing to put into the world that you guys get to come hang with me. So excited. I hope I'm not playing this up too much. And then you guys are gonna get in my group and be like, wha, wha No, there's no way.

I we're gonna have so much fun. Okay, so then I took off December 1st, second, third. So I'm heading into this long weekend. Oh my gosh, how much fun can I have at the same time? And I'm also designing my or my entrepreneur, Addie life. Around fun. Like not only does the group have to be fun, but I have to be having fun.

So what does that look like? In my mornings, I wake up, I do my me first stuff in the morning, you know, I meditate, do my journal, my plan, and my card pole, all of that magical stuff. And then I'd go to the pool and walk the lazy river every morning I can. Right. And do that. Maybe try to build in resort.

Addie, if my body can handle exposure to the elements, and that just depends on my inflammation and all of that stuff, but fun, like how can I build that into how I'm creating this next version of myself? So think of that for yourself too. How can you build it in your everyday life? Not only trying new things and looking for new things in old ways.

You used to have fun, but how can you build it in your regular everyday life more? Right now. And what does that look like? Okay. I feel like I gave you guys a lot of homework this time, but fun is important. So if you do anything, just take some time to sit and think, how do I have fun? How do I wanna intentionally have fun?

And if you have extra days off this week, this upcoming holiday, yeah, you're gonna be with family and that's fun. And you're going to be probably putting out Christmas decorations. Also fun. But what, just for you sounds. Delightful and fun. And maybe it's reading a book in front of the tree, right? Like that might sound fun.

What else can you add in, if anything, to bring even more joy to those moments or perhaps on a day to yourself, maybe an everyday adventure is in store for you. I know Amy in our group, she's going to a new farmer's market that sounds like, she's like, I've been wanting to go forever. I'm gonna do that. And it's amazing what will come out of talking through this stuff.

She even found her new future self vision for Farmer Amy, and I think she's been like struggling to grasp it and put, put like words to what is she wants. And sometimes this shit takes a while. It takes a while for us to learn to dream and have fun and figure it out what it is we even want. You know, I'm in a lot of groups, obviously on the interwebs, and I was, I'm in, um, Francesca Amber's Manifesting Group, and a couple middle aged women are in there posting about, my manifestations don't work.

I just feel out of alignment. And I'm like, well, that's because we haven't learned how to dream. Right? Like, what is it you really want? Yeah, you wrote it on a piece of paper, but what does it look like? What does it feel like? What is that energy of that thing you desire? You know, and sometimes finding fun things, making a list of things that seem fun to you, like going to a rogue cult meditation, you know, might just lead you on the path of evolution for yourself.

Boom. On that mic drop, I'm leaving it. I can't, I don't think I can get better than that. Listen, share this with your badass witches and bitches friends out there because cool shit's coming. And if you like my voice and you think they'll like my voice, then we're all cool ass witchy bitches together and we're just gonna have some fun.

And I can't frigging wait. Oh, and transform our lives in the process. That's like a side effect of the fun of. Everything that's coming. Actually, I feel like everything I've created, but I feel like it's getting ready to even go to, uh, next level fun shit. Alright, so share away if you haven't given a review to the podcast.

I need some on Spotify for sure. I think I've been at the same 11 over there. Drop me a, a rating or a thumbs up over there. I would really appreciate it. I love you guys. Thank you for listening and have a great week. Let's have some fun and happy Thanksgiving. I am eternally, eternally grateful for you being here with me.

I love you, and until next week, slayer up.