What do you do for fun? This is the question I most often ask people. How would you answer?
I may be at the gym or a restaurant, with a stranger or someone I know, during an interview or church service. I ask the question because it usually throws the person out of the focused reason for why we are talking in the first place and causes him or her to contemplate and hopefully share with me a bit about life.
I would venture to say that at least half of those I ask immediately respond, “Fun? I’m always working. I don’t have time for fun.” Of the remaining half a big portion ask, “What do you mean by fun?” That leaves just a few that can actually identify how their life is truly fun. Most of those – who are adults often express how involvement in the activities of a child commands their time and interests. It would appear that many of us just aren’t having much fun these days.
I don’t fully believe that. If that were the case then the travel, sports, retail, entertainment, food and other industries (including the fitness industry) that help us enjoy life would be in really bad condition. Certainly economic factors have impacted business growth. However, people are still having fun — even if they don’t recognize it or admit it. Perhaps, media has done such a good job of making fun look really fun that our real experiences can never live up to the hype.
There are some key reasons why fun is not part of daily life for many people:
Clutter and Clarity – It is extremely easy to get our lives cluttered with technology, possession, activities, agendas, goals, conversations and so much more. These things become the de facto parasites that cannibalize our time, our relationships and our lives. They constantly drive us further from gaining clarity on the real priorities and how to achieve them.
Careless and Cavalier– We just don’t care enough. It is too easy to get bogged down, tired, depressed and then disregard the personal challenge to make life better.
A basic premise of Christianity is that the faith (as presented by the people who identify themselves as Christians) will set an example and be an inspiration for everyone. Too often however they have been a bad example. Unhealthy and unhappy Christians often dwell on pain and misery AND the churches they attend quite honestly feed on that. The mentality is often one extreme or the other, “There will be no joy until we get to heaven” or “Let’s party like crazy today and God will forgive us tomorrow”. Instead, Christians should be a light to others of what it means to truly have fun.
Jesus perhaps made that most evident when He said, “I’ve come so that you would have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus was passionate about making life better for people — now. He did that with a distinctly different kind of attitude. The blind, the whore, the tax collector, the laborer, the friend and even the murderer couldn’t escape it. He was active and on the move. Though his life had daily challenges, He clearly moved forward without reservation and with a clear vision. He enjoyed what He did and found pleasure in doing it. He had fun.
I really dislike the “express gym” approach to fitness. It makes personal exercise a brief task that is scheduled into a busy day. In many cases it reinforces the lack of enjoyment people find in fitness. They tolerate exercise and do it only because they feel it will extend their life or reduce their health care. I’m pleased to see what Jim White, the Christian owner of Jim White Fitness in Virginia Beach has done. He has developed an early morning Fitness Boot Camp on the beach. People are going to it and having a blast.
Faith is in fact the ingredient that can truly make fitness fun. When you develop physical health and strength and then intentionally use it for others then you will experience some real fun. It is one thing to feel good. It is even better to help someone else feel good.
So, what do you do for fun? If your fitness isn’t fun it should be. If your faith isn’t fun then what do you really believe? The next time you live out your faith and develop your own physical fitness have some fun — do it for someone else.
Train strong,
-Brad Bloom
