I’ve been writing about a lot of stuff, and most of it has been pretty serious. I’ve written about practice, about effort, about hard work, but I haven’t mentioned fun very much. Granted I did describe the differences between hard work and drudgery, but that still didn’t approach the topic of fun.
“All work and no play…”
When you are working on something or learning something, you need to take some breaks and enjoy yourself. It’s easy to beat yourself up for taking the time for yourself, but don’t. When I went in for orientation starting college, the advisors told us to schedule some time for ourselves, because we were going to take it one way or another. The same holds true for fun. If you grind yourself constantly and never allow yourself some whimsy or recreation, you will not only be less effective at what you are doing, but will unbalance yourself in the process. Take some time and enjoy it. In the movie “Lean on Me”, the main character said in frustration to his staff “Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm!” The same can be said on the topic of fun. Allow yourself some fun and watch your other activities fall into place.
“A spoonful of sugar”
Anyone who has tried to learn something or do something while incorporating fun can tell you that not only does it make the task at hand more enjoyable, but it also makes it more effective. When you are fun your senses are engaged, you are focused on what is happening, and your thought processes are sharper. This is why it’s a good idea to do something you enjoy. Even if you do not happen to enjoy what you are doing, you will be able to find some aspect that you can use to add fun. If you are driven for excellence, try keeping score, and see how high you get. If you are a seeker of knowledge, see how much you can learn about what you do and the facts surrounding it and so forth. Doing so will not only make what you are doing more bearable, but it will also make you more effective at what you are doing, so it can become easier.
“If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right”
Seriously. If you’re not having a blast, then you need to be. Much like happiness, having fun is something that you can find in just about any situation. It’s just a matter of finding it and allowing yourself to have fun.
That’s not to say that everything is happy-skippy-fun-time, but you can allow yourself to enjoy your life. As you start moving your life where you want to go this will of course get easier, but you can’t run before you crawl, so why not start having fun now?
