Challenging Fun on the Open Seas

Look at the fish we caught!

I even got to see dolphins!

I've read that there are three kinds of fun: challenging fun, accomodating fun, and relaxing fun. Relaxing fun is pretty self-explanatory; it requires practically no effort -- like watching a movie. Accomodating fun is a bit of a challenge and requires some effort-- like planning a party -- but it's not to the same degree as challenging fun. Challenging fun is supposed to be the most rewarding form of fun. It involves difficulty, takes a lot of time, and requires effort for mastery.

Yesterday I went deep-sea fishing for the first time. In my book, this falls into challenging fun. And it was a blast! We spent about 7 hours out on the boat, the muscles in my arms are now sore, I have a tinge more sunburn than expected, and had to deal with a strange port-a-potty toilet --- basically, it wasn't a walk on the beach. But I learned something new, was challenged, and it did feel more exhilerating than an effortless, relaxing form of fun. Plus, I caught five fish! And my mom caught the biggest fish. Go Fern!

P.S. - I did a lot more feeding fish (aka - letting them eat the bait right off my line) than I did catching any fish. Let's just say that mastery of deep-sea fishing is probably not in my future.