What do you do for fun?
Did you just cringe a little? If you’re anything like me, the answer is a resounding yes. On any given day that question is enough to send me into a full-blown panic. But if asked a few years ago, I would have answered in an instant and with more enthusiasm than a child at a waterpark for the very first time. I ran, I was a runner, it was what I did (like, literally all the time), and subsequently who I was.
And when I injured myself well and truly and irrevocably? It made running either uncomfortable at best and excruciatingly painful more often than not. To say I was at a loss was quite possibly the understatement of the year. When you identify yourself so wholly with one thing that is abruptly taken away, where do you go from there? I faltered for quite some time before I slowly started to figure that out. What else was I good at? What else was I even interested in?
Sometimes I read, but that feels isolating and I miss the intensity of running. I dig music, but I had fallen off from lessons a long time ago and was never that great at it anyway, so I don’t want to start from scratch again. I went to school for design and photography, but after I graduated it still felt a lot like homework. I love cars, but they’re expensive and they break, and I could never quite justify (or afford) what I really wanted.
Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I took a huge step back to reassess. How could I make one of these things work for me with what I had? I had to figure out a way to flip the script. I couldn’t afford a project car of my own, but why should that should that mean I should discount that completely as a part of my life? Turns out, I didn’t have to do that at all.
As The Rhythm of Reman so affectionately calls it, the thing I decided I did for fun happened to be my “car drifty thing,” a sport that is surprisingly difficult to convey short of that very literal description: drifting cars.
When your one true passion (or your body) fails you, take stock of your interests whether they are actively a fun thing you do yet or not, and proceed through the following steps with enthusiasm:
Step 1: Find the thing. I like cars. A lot. But since it’s not likely I’m ever going to build or drift my own car, that doesn’t stop me from engaging in the culture of drifting—it’s a surprising amount of fun to go and watch other people do it.
Step 2: Find the people. Having friends who also want to spend a weekend watching cars slide around a track? This is maybe the most important thing. A good community is amazing, and in a somewhat niche sport, you get to know people easily if you’re willing to put yourself out there (which you should!).
Step 3: Lean into it. The hardest part of doing literally anything new is just starting, especially when you’re painfully introverted. You have to take the first step – whatever that might be in your case. Immerse yourself in said thing. The internet is an amazing place. There’s a forum or social media group for pretty much anything. Search away! For me, it involved showing up to events, making friends, and doing another thing I love—taking pictures.
That thing you want to do for fun, elusive as it sometimes is, is in your life already, at least in some capacity. Perhaps at this point, it’s only an interest or a dream. There’s always a way to make what you want work for you. It requires reflection, effort, and a fine amount of good old-fashioned quality time, but like they say – nothing worth having comes easily.
 

What happens when The Reman Runner can’t really run? She drifts. It took some time, but Rani learned that from her interests she can find new passions. Where have your interests drifted over the years? Comment below or reach out to Rani directly.