Work Hard, Play Hard

Ever since I heard that, if I did not 'Work Hard, Play hard', I was not really living, I have been having nightmares from which I wake up in cold sweat and shiver for the rest of the night. Avoiding the need to work hard has always been my lifetime ambition. Just the idea of working makes me feel fatigued. In fact, I rather think that 'work hard' is a redundancy - working IS hard for me, anyway. Anything I enjoy doing I used to call play.
Which is the reason for my nightmares. Play Hard! Hitherto, I had the impression (mistaken, I am sure, as I am on most things) that playing was something you do as a leisure activity and, thus, it was something that you do in a leisurely manner, and by choice. In fact, I had sort of developed the idea that what you did from necessity was work; what you did by choice was play - without regard to which you were getting paid for (Ever heard of any man think that mowing the lawn was play, even if he did not get paid for it?). Apparently it is not so - you HAD to play hard (AND it is NOT play hard to get, which is merely a game). So, the moment you took off from office you had to start playing. So, choice cannot be the determinant of what constitutes play.
Playing what? I mean, hitherto, my idea of play was to listen to music, watch movies on TV or read a book. Would that do? And if it does constitute 'play', would that also count as 'play hard'? Maybe I should figure out a way to play the zip files, instead of the MP3; to watch movies on fast-forward; and to skim-read books, jumping ten words for every word I read so that I can qualify as one who is 'playing hard'. It is a hard thing to ask a middle-aged (Old? Well, in THIS context, I will accept old) man to suddenly change his habits but, as I ought to know (but don't), Life is not fair. (I know, maybe even my gossiping with friends ought to be in Twitterese, but THAT I do not think I can do. I mean, I cannot even see the logic - maybe saying 'LOL' instead of actually laughing may be faster but, for the life of me, I cannot see that saying 'Gee Enn' instead of 'Good Night' will be any faster, especially considering that I would also waste some time in thinking of it. So, it will only end up with my wasting precious time, which could have been used to play something else hard.
Or am I totally wrong in assuming that these things even constitute play? Maybe the only thing that constitutes play is chasing balls of various sizes and shapes, across various shapes of grounds, with various implements. Too late for me. I would have groaned with self-pity at my utter inability to be WITH IT - but for the fact that I am reasonably sure that, if any such redefinition applied, it would only mean that you did all that chasing the ball by twiddling your thumbs over a handset - something that I can possibly learn. If only my eyes would permit it!
There is this variation - 'Party Hard' - and, maybe, when people said 'play' they thought ONLY of parties as play. This, I could possibly do but...wait...would they accept it as 'play hard' if I merely perched on a bar-stool and sipped a beer. Was I supposed to do twenty gyrations a minute on the dance floor and drink twice as much in half the time? AND, if as a consequence of the combination of both these activities, if I end up barfing hard, would that elevate me to the ranks of the super-achievers?
Now, you understand why I wake up with nightmares. This 'play hard' business is stressing me out. It must be my age but you must forgive me if I find it too much like...err...work.