Recently I received this mini-lecture from a new acquaintance: “Vicki, everything can’t be fun you know.””My response was: “Oh, yeah! Watch me!”

I wisely kept my response in my head. Did I really want to get into a fight about my belief in the power of fun? Not with someone as committed to not having fun as this person turned out to be. That discussion would be fruitless and no fun.

This isn’t exactly what happened, but it is close enough to exemplify one of the biggest roadblocks to knowing who we really are and who we are meant to be:  listening well to ourselves and others.

Taking a Stand for Fun is Serious Business

person turned out to be. That discussion would be fruitless and no fun. Taking a Stand for Fun is Serious Business I’m 58, legally blind, grew up in an alcoholic home, my daughter almost died when she was twenty, blah, blah, blah. Do I really need to prove I have suffered to prove that putting Fun in the center, in the heart and center, of everything I do is not only possible, it is essential? I guess I do.

Fun is for children, right? If only children still got to have fun. We are doing a pretty good job of extricating fun even from childhood these days. Recess has been abolished in many states because all that play outdoors is not learning time and we need to get those kids to buckle down and learn how to pass all those standardized tests. Meanwhile, the dropout rate is soaring, childhood obesity is increasing, as is diabetes, stress disorders, and blah, blah, blah.

What have we got against fun, anyway?

Research shows that we learn more when we are having fun. Couples who play for five minutes together report they love each other more. And I mean they played for five minutes before they took the questionnaire. Imagine if they played together every day?

I repeat: What have we got against fun? Research clearly shows people who are grateful, cheerful, and playful live longer, have more friends, and are more productive on the job, Fun isn’t for lightweights who do not understand that this world is full of suffering and problems that need to be solved. Fun is the missing ingredient in most of our problem-solving.

Serious-minded, logical, altruistic people need to commit to fun if they want to actually solve some problems instead of killing themselves with overwork, self-doubt, and self-righteousness. Yuck!

We are having a national epidemic of seriousness! I’m serious about this.

Look at Google! They have pool tables and chess boards and free massage chairs everywhere. The only food you have to pay for is a vending machine with junk food in it. The junk food is priced at how bad the food is for you. This is funny! This gets the point across! And Google fired China for being so committed to violating human rights. Google is a multinational corporation that has integrity and understands how important fun is to the bottom line. Do you think you are smarter than Google?

If Google believes in fun, don’t you think it is worth entertaining the idea that fun might make you smarter, healthier, and more creative? Just entertain the idea for thirty-seconds that putting fun in the CENTER of your life might be the most profound decision you ever make. Try this for thirty seconds. I dare you.

I guess this is my Sgt. Vicki voice. I’m kicking a little butt for fun. And I’m having fun doing it.

So here is what I say to the woman who lectured me about how I can’t have fun all the time. I can too! I had fun getting a screening colonoscopy. I had fun when my mother died. I had fun when I was in transition giving birth to my first child. I started a sort of funny song from my daughter’s bed in the hospital when she almost died. I’ve written funny songs about being blind, traveling for twenty-four hours on a train alone in India where no one spoke English, and I even wrote two funny songs within hours after a pickpocket stole four hundred dollars and my wallet in Prague.

So suck on eggs, Crabby Woman who says I can’t have fun all the time. I may stumble and fall, but I promise you I know how to pick myself up, get back in the game, and get smiling sooner than most people I know — without being afraid to do my grieving! Ha!

Put a little fun in your life, already!

Vicki

P.S. Want to sign up for a free Play Date with me? This is a limited time offer. When I stop having fun doing these, you know what I will do. Contact me at vicki@outrageousvisions.com to set up an appointment. .

Tags: motivation

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 11:07 am and is filed under Taking A Stand For FUN. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.