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Day 6 Behavior Exchange Challenge ~ Get a hobby!

Day 6 Behavior Exchange Challenge ~ Get a hobby!

Bad Habit #6 ~ A lack of hobbiesfile0001003876604

Can you name things that you love to do, that are unrelated to your work or career? If not, and you’ve put all your energy into working, just how do you relax? What do you do that revitalizes you? How do you express your creativity? If you can’t answer those questions, it’s time to take a hard look at how you spend your leisure time and realize that you need more in your life than work to assure your life is fully rounded. So what do you do? Find a hobby or two.

Merriam-Webster defines HOBBY as:

  • a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation

You may enjoy your career, but the point of a hobby is to connect to yourself and relax. Find something that gives you pleasure that you can lose yourself in. Something that feeds your soul, makes you happy, stimulates your mind, and potentially sets the stage to meet other people outside your career track.

If you can’t answer the question, “What do you do in your spare time?”, it’s time to find a hobby.

 

Lee AldrichLee’s Challenge:

There are many things I like to do outside of my regular work. I love gardening. As a matter of fact, just yesterday, we cleared the right half of the front of our home we moved to in January of very old, overgrown and untended juniper bushes to allow a clean palate for a new garden design. I  can spend untold hours planning the design, selecting the right plants, and creating a wee bit of heaven on earth.

I also love birdwatching…something my Nana instilled in me when I was a kid. We’d sit on her back porch and listen to the bird sounds to be able to identify them. (I still associate cardinals with her!) I have several hummingbird feeders – and I suggest making your own nectar, it’s easy and FAR less expensive than buying it – and love to watch what I refer to as our little Quidditch players, darting and diving in the air.

Then there’s biking and hiking, reading, music, and well…I’m not at a loss for hobbies. It is these things that breathe joy and happiness into my life. I hope you have many things you enjoy, too!

Barbara JoyBarbara’s Challenge:

One of the most dreaded questions I used to face was “So, what do you like to do in your spare time?”  I’d always think to myself, “Are you mad”?  Spare Time?  Is that a thing?  Being a (most of the time) single parent, as well as a career minded individual, I had no idea people had….this thing called…Spare Time!

I used to day dream in my office of all the things I’d be doing if I didn’t have to work, when I was at home I’d dream of all the things I’d be doing if I didn’t have to be at home.  When I “retired”, I decided to set out and find my “spare time” activity.  That was a whole lot harder than I had imagined.

Everything I thought of really was more of an extension of work….I research (my husband and I are  “need to know” people) and I’m a planner….I love to cook and experiment with new foods….I’m a techie – I LOVE technology (particularly anything Apple) and how it can make living so much more enjoyable.  These don’t really seem to fit “the mold” of hobbies.   If you must know, I’m an overachiever as well, so I feel hard pressed now that I’m not working (ok, let’s call it that) to develop some sort of hobby, people who are still working would sit around and dream of me and my new found passion.

I do love landscaping, but there’s no starting that until we purchase another house….OMG, and that’s waiting for the future to begin!

I do have a new resolution for hobbies.  Take piano lessons again.  I’m not sure if it’s something I’ll like, but it’ll get me over the ill feeling I still carry from my experience taking them as a kid.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

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  1. Ginger Kay

    9 July

    I wholeheartedly agree that hobbies impact happiness. I have two main hobbies in my life: reading and knitting. (BTW, that photo is crochet in your other post, not knitting.) Reading is my first and best hobby love, so it gets the lion’s share of my free time.
    Ginger Kay recently posted…Peaches, the taste of summerMy Profile

    • Barbara Coleman

      10 July

      I’ve always envied the readers out there…my attention span (or lack of it) makes reading almost painful…which probably why I missed that crochet/knitting mistake. And I used to crochet…maybe I should say I have crocheted…I never really owned it as a hobby. I always feel like I should be doing something else…I’m working on it! Btw…thanks for catching that mistake! It’s nice to know someone was reading!

    • Lee Aldrich

      10 July

      I’m a reader, gardner, bird watcher. Saw you just read WW Z. Looking forward to that since anything that will scare me I love. Must be a masochist at heart! ; )

  2. I am lucky to have the time to pursue multiple hobbies, the chief two being reading (for a variety of reasons) and working out. Is my blog a hobby? I have made very little money off of it, but I’d probably call it a vocation rather than a hobby. I do think people are happier if they can carve out some time to pursue an activity done for the pure love of it. Enjoy your hobbies, gals.
    Karen D. Austin recently posted…Best of Boomer Blogs #316My Profile

    • Lee Aldrich

      10 July

      I agree 100% that it’s really important to do something that is just for yourself and makes you happy.
      Thank you for your comment, Karen!

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