When I was a small boy growing up in Detroit my father would come home every night after work and entertain my brother and me before doing anything else.
We would beg him to stand on his head and my father would always do as we asked.
He loved to stand on his head like a yogi right in the middle of the living room.
Every time he did this coins would fall from his pockets.
My brother and I would scurry around and grab as much loose change as we could while my father pretended to protest from his inverted position.
In truth it was as much fun for him as it was for us.
My father was the youngest of a family of eight, and being the baby of that family was always cared for by his siblings even into adulthood.
Life for him was about play and having fun.
My father successfully passed this view of life on to me and my brother.
Even when we would go with him to work at the pawn shop downtown we
had fun, maybe even the most fun of all.
The word work and the drudgery that goes along with it never made any sense to me or my brother because of this.
People hate to work but they use this word for stuff that isn't even work. And did you notice that everywhere it’s used people are really serious.
Serious people in the gym are Working Out.
For serious training you go to a Workshop.
When you're serious about beauty you call it a Work of art.
If you're serious about your Work they say you have Work ethic.
Some even practice Spiritual Work.
I've done my best to work and be serious over the years, I really have, but most of the time I can't help but consider how much fun I'm having.
If I'm not having fun or moving to a higher level of “fun” in the sense of being able to share with others, help others or overcome some adversity,
I Ain't Interested.
What I've learned is that you can't take other peoples work away from them but you can often make it fun.
Sometimes it's just a matter of reminding ourselves that we're having fun.
Try it.
There are many situations that are supposed to be fun that we often add tension to and they instantly become serious situations or work.
At these times simply say aloud
“This is fun”.
You'll either break the tension in the room or you'll actually change the orientation of yourself and others from one of seriousness to one of fun.
If you saw me doing Qi Gong with my students on the beach I doubt you'd say that looks like a lot of work. It's actually a lot of fun and it looks like fun too.
Wishing you Health, Wealth and Happiness,
PS - This is fun!
