Let's have some fun.

What is life without a little fun along the way!

Let's dive into the topic of fun. Whether we know it or not, many of us consider fun to be an extra. Study after study has been released around the importance of play for both children and adults. They document how playfulness can impact higher creativity and the appreciation of beauty and presence, it can improve excitement and energy, create a sense of hope, help you discover new ways of experiencing love and all the while contribute significantly to our overall well-being.

So why, for most of us, does fun stay as an optional activity, an add-on or something for weekends only?

A Bridge Over Troubled Water

Enneagram Sevens are known for their fun. They are fun-seekers and fun-finders. And in so many cases they are the creators of the fun, their brains just work that way. They seem to be forever responding to the question, "why not?"

Sorry in advance to the Sevens ... but beneath every characteristic Enneagram trait is a double-edged sword. The search for fun, for Sevens and for all of us, requires balance. Underneath a search for fun and a resistance to fun is crucial information about our mental and emotional well-being.

For many of us, the lack of control that comes with fun and playfulness puts us on edge. We see it as unproductive, unnecessary and too simple to be seen as important to our lives. Why is that? Why does it feel so important to "do" and accomplish?

For some of us, and often for Enneagram Sevens, our search for fun has become almost frenzied, before the fun has even happened, our mind is preparing for the next idea. We've created a dependence on lightness, excitement and newness - fun has become the balm to our mental anxiety. What would happen if we stopped the search for a moment?

On both sides, we have created a bridge or a safety net to avoid looking at what is underneath.

Harmony

In this section I will give you all the answers ... ya, right.

I wish there were simple ways to answer all of life's double-edged swords. The truth is we need to play and have fun at every stage of our lives. The issue isn't the fun, the issue is the motivation.

So what motivates us to push back on, or seek, fun?

I believe most people avoid fun because they don't see a clear result. Fun is random. Fun is unpredictable. Fun can take you on a new path. Fun can feel out of control. Fun doesn't always have a point, it's just fun.

For Enneagram Sevens fun IS the result; fun is the ability to keep enjoying rather than look at what's underneath. They don't have to sit and feel, sit and overthink, sit and go deeper into what is motivating their chase for fun. They can take the unpredictable path and see if it leads somewhere different (and more fun) than the internal world they are unsure they want to examine.

All of the decisions in our lives are simply mirrors of our inner world. Again, the issue isn't the fun, the issue comes down to harmonizing of our inner world and our outer experience.

A New Perspective

Let's conclude with some fun. What if life is inherently fun? What if fun is actually sitting and waiting to be had and we're missing it by focusing on tasks or focusing on the chase for the next fun thing?

If fun and play are so important to a healthy and balanced human life, would it not make sense that fun and play can be found in almost anything we do, any day of the week?

Let's stop the resistance and stop the search, pause and breathe. You and your imagination are naturally bent towards fun and play. So let's get creative, what could be fun in this very moment?

And so, for the Fun, Creative Seven in all of us:

"Today, I embrace the joyous adventure that life offers. I understand that fun and excitement are essential parts of my journey, and that I AM FUN! I don't need to avoid it or seek it, fun is part of who I am. In each moment, I can breathe in the possibility of fun and play without fearing the result because life is designed to be fun and I'm here for the ride."