{"id":818,"date":"2011-12-30T00:58:30","date_gmt":"2011-12-30T05:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bennesvig.apps-1and1.com\/?p=818"},"modified":"2011-12-30T00:58:30","modified_gmt":"2011-12-30T05:58:30","slug":"fun-vs-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun vs. Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing a book isn’t fun.<\/p>\n

Choosing to eat healthy isn’t fun.<\/p>\n

Learning an instrument isn’t fun.<\/p>\n

Quitting a job you don’t care about with nothing lined up isn’t fun.<\/p>\n

Learning a new language isn’t fun.<\/p>\n

Pregnancy isn’t fun.<\/p>\n

The difference between Fun and\u00a0Happiness\u00a0isn’t semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life.<\/p>\n

What is Fun?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fun is temporary. It’s the emotions you feel during<\/em> an act. College kids are really good at having fun on the weekend. Fun doesn’t last. Fun is eating a cupcake for dinner. You derive pleasure from the act, but 20 minutes later you’re not satisfied.<\/p>\n

What is Happiness?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The emotions felt after<\/em> an act. Knowing how to play the guitar brings me happiness. Having written a book makes me happy. Being able to say that I memorized and recited the entire I Have a Dream speech from Martin Luther King Jr. makes me happy. Being able to say I’ve done stand-up comedy and not bombed.<\/p>\n

Every example above involved a miserable process. Nothing about the process was fun. Writing a book is\u00a0grueling. Writing jokes and preparing to tell them for the first time to a group of people who don’t know you is terrifying. Learning an instrument is frustrating. I can’t blame people for quitting. I quit piano as a kid, much to my later regret. Memorizing the I Have a Dream speech took 4 almost sleepless nights of audibly repeating the speech to myself for hours at a time. An awful experience, but it raised my grade in my American History high school class from a B to an A.<\/p>\n

The Rub<\/strong><\/p>\n

What we don’t immediately derive pleasure from, we tend to quit. The human race is very bad at seeing The Dip<\/a> and having the courage to push through.<\/p>\n

But almost everything that brings happiness isn’t\u00a0inherently\u00a0fun. It’s possible to make the process fun and trick yourself into enjoying it, but it takes work.<\/p>\n

Future You<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whatever your doing or about to take on – scale it. Where does the path lead? Temporary pain is a pathetic excuse to quit anything important.<\/p>\n

What is future you going to think about the choice you’re about to make?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing a book isn’t fun. Choosing to eat healthy isn’t fun. Learning an instrument isn’t fun. Quitting a job you don’t care about with nothing lined up isn’t fun. Learning a new language isn’t fun. Pregnancy isn’t fun. The difference between Fun and\u00a0Happiness\u00a0isn’t semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life. What is Fun? Fun is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFun vs Happiness | Ben's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The difference between Fun and Happiness isn't semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fun vs Happiness | Ben's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The difference between Fun and Happiness isn't semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ben Nesvig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"BenNesvig\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-30T05:58:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bens-blog.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"144\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"144\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BenNesvig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bennesvig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/\",\"name\":\"Fun vs Happiness | Ben's Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-30T05:58:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-30T05:58:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/630774e1b0fa7bb70c29fc853cf777b9\"},\"description\":\"The difference between Fun and Happiness isn't semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fun vs. Happiness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/\",\"name\":\"Ben Nesvig\",\"description\":\"The home of Ben Nesvig's Daily Musings.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/630774e1b0fa7bb70c29fc853cf777b9\",\"name\":\"Ben\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b05a21cf77da471045239625b8602d4?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b05a21cf77da471045239625b8602d4?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben\"},\"description\":\"Ben Nesvig is an author, writer, idea spreader, and creative dabbler.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/bennesvig.com\",\"BenNesvig\",\"in\/bennesvig\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BenNesvig\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/author\/Ben\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fun vs Happiness | Ben's Blog","description":"The difference between Fun and Happiness isn't semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fun vs Happiness | Ben's Blog","og_description":"The difference between Fun and Happiness isn't semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life.","og_url":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/","og_site_name":"Ben Nesvig","article_author":"BenNesvig","article_published_time":"2011-12-30T05:58:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":144,"height":144,"url":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bens-blog.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ben","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BenNesvig","twitter_site":"@bennesvig","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/","url":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/","name":"Fun vs Happiness | Ben's Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-12-30T05:58:30+00:00","dateModified":"2011-12-30T05:58:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/630774e1b0fa7bb70c29fc853cf777b9"},"description":"The difference between Fun and Happiness isn't semantics. Knowing the difference shapes your life.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/fun-vs-happiness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fun vs. Happiness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/","name":"Ben Nesvig","description":"The home of Ben Nesvig's Daily Musings.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/630774e1b0fa7bb70c29fc853cf777b9","name":"Ben","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b05a21cf77da471045239625b8602d4?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b05a21cf77da471045239625b8602d4?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Ben"},"description":"Ben Nesvig is an author, writer, idea spreader, and creative dabbler.","sameAs":["http:\/\/bennesvig.com","BenNesvig","in\/bennesvig","https:\/\/twitter.com\/BenNesvig"],"url":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/author\/Ben\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paW5lA-dc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bennesvig.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}