My daughter asked me, “Do you do anything for fun?”
I tossed the question back at her, “What do you think I do for fun?” Honestly, I was curious as to what she might say.
She paused … “Drink coffee?”
Well, she’s not wrong. I do love my coffee.
And that prompted us to talk about the idea of “fun.” Most of the things I described as fun are more like work in disguise: CrossFit, cooking, writing, reading, driving my Challenger. I admitted to her that I’m not particularly good at having fun. It’s not that I never have fun or I don’t know how to have fun, but I’m not sure “fun-loving” would be how I would describe myself.
Interestingly, this whole idea came up just a few weeks ago during a She Works HIS Way class on “Emptying Yourself vs. Living on Empty” with Michelle Myers. During the class, Michelle admitted she’s not very good at having fun. The chat box lit up with other women who admitted fun was hard.
I’m not sure I’d ever said, “I’m not good at having fun.” But as soon as Michelle said those words, I exclaimed, “Me too!”
It was freeing to admit that to myself and to hear others have a similar struggle. But then it kinda bugged me. Why can’t I have fun? Why did my own daughter have to ask if I do anything fun? Why were my hobbies masquerading as productive tasks?
My initial thought is that I’m a task-oriented person. I always have been. Give me a to-do list. Give me a deadline. Being productive IS fun.
I wanted a more scientific answer so I turned to Google. I typed “why some people struggle to have fun” into the search bar. The first result was a 2011 blog post by a Dr. Michelle Cleer titled “Why Is It So Hard to Just Have Fun?” Dr. Cleer theorized our lack of fun is because we’re bombarded with negativity. We beat ourselves up and neglect to the see the positives in our life
True enough. But I was looking for something that was more rooted in our personalities. Was I born to be wild or not?
Other articles referenced depression or offered tips for how to not be boring.
I tried another search: “is fun a personality trait.”
This article at Well + Good references a research study pointing to five traits that tend to make a person “fun.” They are: extraversion, open-mindedness, humor production, humor perception, and creativity,
The researcher also is quoted as saying, “Creative people have been found to be high in emotional intelligence, which is a key factor in social relationships.”
Hmmm. I consider myself a pretty creative person. So where’s my fun factor?
Well, let’s circle back to the idea of personality. On the Enneagram, I’m a No. 1 — Strict Perfectionist. If you know me, you’re not surprised by this. E1s are all about improvement and making sure things are done correctly. We like to organize the world and value facts, precision and clarity. And, you’d better believe, we work hard to avoid mistakes.
I’m not sure that sounds especially “fun.”
On the Strengths Finders test, my strengths are things like responsibility (read: dependable), maximizer (excellence is my measure) and intellection (mental activity). Intellection is my favorite. It means I enjoy time alone and introspective. The description reads, “You’re your own best companion as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound.”
Me, myself and I can have plenty of fun together!
Maybe there’s no exact answer to the question, “Why is it hard to have fun?” It’s likely an innate part of my personality fueled by my upbringing, which pretty much describes most of our traits, right?
Let’s face it, I’ll never be the life of the party. That’s OK. It’s not who I am. But, I am thinking about how I might infuse a little more fun into my life. You know, like exercise more.