Mandy Arioto - Have More Fun: How to Be Remarkable, Stop Feeling Stuck, and Start Enjoying Life

If youve ever felt like you were too busy to have fun, this book is for you. If, like me, you measure your worth by productivity and deep down youre unsure if you deserve fun, then this book is definitely for you. I got teary in the first chapter. Mandys words will speak to your heart, and if you are open to thinking differently, they could change your life.

LISA LEONARD, jewelry designer and author

As a recovering perfectionist, Im often so worried about failing that I forget to enjoy this one beautiful life God gave me. Mandys book is a poignant, insightful, hilarious reminder to make room for joyful absurdity. My mind is already swimming with ideas of how to have more fun with my kids, my marriage, and my job!

JJ HELLER, singer and songwriter

Ill admit, I consider myself a fun person. I am always looking for the next fun thing to do. My Instagram profile reads, pretty good at laughing, and I never take myself too seriously. But as the saying goes, life happens, and days fill up, and the to-do list is far too long, and I can forget about the fun. Mandys book Have More Fun is a sweet reminder for me about how much I love having fun and how easily fun can fit into every corner of my daily life, even when I may feel too busy. Full of silly stories and easy ways to incorporate fun into our day-to-day, this book is an important reminder for all of us.

HEATHER AVIS, author, influencer, shouter of worth

In a world that pushes us to run harder/faster/stronger, Have More Fun offers us a daring, amped-up drumbeat to dance to along the way. For the overworked and underwhelmed, join Mandy Arioto as she turns up the volume to hear the jubilant lyrics many of us have long forgotten.

ERIN LOECHNER, author of Chasing Slow and founder of OtherGoose.com

Mandy writes, I dont want to get to the end of my life and realize that the best thing about me was that I was really good at keeping up with my email. Yikes. She totally got me. Right. Where. I. Live. Im great at emails and less great at fun. Okay, Im not terrible at having fun. But here in Mandys honest, inviting, winsome, and playful style I see what I havent before. Beyond playing with grandkids. Beyond entertaining audiences. Beyond my hobby of reading or walking my dogs. A divine version of life-giving fun is waiting for me in the here and now of my everyday. And Im going to embrace it.

ELISA MORGAN, speaker, author, The Prayer Coin, The Beauty of Broken, President Emerita, MOPS International

Ever gotten to the end of a week, or month, or OH MY GOODNESS... YEAR, and realized that while youve accomplished plenty youve forgotten to enjoy the journey? Been there! I have good news though. Mandy Arioto has penned a resource that is inspiring, encouraging, hilarious, and chock full of fabulous ideas for adding fun and meaning to nine areas of your current life. Shell have you laughing one minute and crying the next, in the best way. I read every word, and this book is worth your time.

SANDRA STANLEY, author and speaker

ZONDERVAN

Have More Fun

Copyright 2019 by MOPS International, Inc.

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Epub Edition February 2019 9780310340454

ISBN 978-0-310-34043-0 (softcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-35537-3 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-34045-4 (ebook)

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Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).

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To Joseph, Elle, and Charlotte, who are my favorite part of any day.

CONTENTS

A few years ago my professional bio simply read: attorney, diplomat, and nonprofit founder.

Reading it sort of made me want to take a nap.

So when Id meet new acquaintances, and Id crack a joke or notice something completely absurd, theyd often glance past me in search of the real grown-up. Thats why, for the sake of transparency, I changed the bio to say: Chief of Fun & Whimsy.

It felt more honest.

If you were to ask the people who know me best in this world what my one thing iswhat wakes me up every morning, propels me through the day, and rattles around in my head at night before I fall asleepmost of them would say love. Its my thing. It really is.

Its what I was made for, and its what you were made for.

But if youd only known me a few minutes, if you were that handshakershaking your head and wondering what sort of shenanigans would unfold should I be allowed to speak in a court of lawyou might also make the reasonable guess that my thing, my one thing, was fun.

And you wouldnt be entirely wrong.

I dont really like to draw hard and fast lines between love and fun. In my life, and in my familys life, the two are often tangled up together.

Before my wife Maria and I got married, we discussed what our future might look like. Specifically, we began to imagine how we would live. And we decided together that we wanted joy and whimsy and fun to be central to the life we shared and to the family we were building. So when our daughter Lindsey was ten, and we saw $99 airline tickets to London, we decided I should take her to London for a tea party. As one does.

Another weekend I purchased a radio-controlled airplane and dragged the kids outside for our planes maiden voyage. As you might imagine, it was totally awesome! It was awesome for all forty-five seconds before I flew that plane into a tree (which, of course, was actually also kind of cool). I wasnt worried about Marias reaction to wasting the money, because... well... fun. Its one of the things wed chosen to be about.

You can choose fun too.