Curious about Fun: How Much Are You Having?

Theodor Geisel wrote, “Fun is good.” And Katharine Graham wrote, “To love what you do and feel that it matters how could anything be more fun?”

Many years ago while attending a National Speakers Association Convention, I listened to a professional speaker (I can’t even remember his name now) berate those who encouraged happiness and fun. To paraphrase what I do remember, he was warning that to be successful we needed to work hard and not focus on seeking happiness and fun. After all, work was work and hard work, too!

I didn’t agree with him then, and now I even disagree more with his opinion and advice.

Yes, there are those who roll their eyes and scoff when I tell them that the work we do should be so much fun that it seems more like play. I submit to you that if you are not having fun, you should heartily reconsider what kind of work you are doing.

For ammunition, I visited my favorite site for quotes (www.brainyquote.com) and found more quotes for “fun” than I usually find for other words. Because these well known and successful people have summed up the subject so succinctly, I want to share some of them with you:

• "I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.” - Thomas A. Edison
• “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” - Dale Carnegie
• “Work is much more fun than fun.” - Noel Coward
• “I'm picking and choosing in terms of the stress factor. If it's not fun, I'm not going to do it.” - Anita Baker
• “The man who does not work for the love of work but only for money is not likely to make money nor find much fun in life.” - Charles Schwab
• “I've had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good. That's just the way it is. And if you believe that and live by it, you'd be surprised at how much fun you can have.” - Woody Hayes

Of course, I did find many other ideas revolving around fun and I want to share a few more with you along with my comments.

Joe Namath wrote, “When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” I remember his ad long ago where he showed his leg on TV. It certainly took self confidence and it was obvious he was having fun doing it. If you are confident enough to look a little foolish, you will be amazed by the fun you can have!

Vincent Price said, “It's as much fun to scare as to be scared.” And it is, as long as it is done in fun. When I first started telling stories I wasn’t keen about ghost stories. They, and other scary stories, however, are the most popular with all ages. So, I worked on some and have found that I love scaring others. It is fun, and, even though I was never keen about Halloween when my children were young, I love it now. Tellers who have good scary stories are in demand!

And, finally, Franklin P. Adams wrote, “While the work or play is on, it is a lot of fun if while you are doing one you don't constantly feel that you ought to be doing the other.” Hey, Franklin, if you feel that your work is play, you won’t ever have this problem!

So, I ask you, do you love what you do enough to have fun, no matter how hard you are working? Or, do your days drag by? I certainly hope not.