THE IMPORTANCE OF HOBBIES

(1) What are the keys to health and happiness? For most people, the list would include a healthy diet, regular exercise, a good night’s sleep and having family and friends around you. Hobbies, unfortunately, rarely make the list of priorities for a healthy lifestyle. Studies have shown that it is essential to spend time doing your hobbies to have a satisfying life. A life without hobbies and leisurely pursuits is a very dry, demanding and unhealthy one.

(2) These days, most people have very busy schedules with work, school, family and personal responsibilities which require attention from morning until bedtime. If you’re like many people, you feel a little guilty taking an hour or two for yourself when you have more ‘important’ things to do. When you pursue a hobby, like tennis or taking a cooking class, you promise people – teacher of the cooking class, for example – to show up and participate. This way, it’s easier to give yourself permission to take some time off from work and responsibility. Taking a few hours each week to pursue your passions restores your energy and sense of balance, so you can better handle your daily obligations.

(3) In this digital world, it’s all too easy for people to do activities that keep them isolated indoors and focused on devices. When you take up a hobby, like softball or golf, you’ve created opportunities for comfortable and enjoyable social interactions. Even if your hobby is something more solitary, like knitting or photography, you will probably try to find others with a similar passion to share information, ask questions or form a club. Starting a conversation with someone who shares your passion for a particular sport or hobby is comfortable and less awkward; it’s easier to make new friends and expand your network of social connections.

(4) It doesn’t sound logical to say that adding another activity to an already busy schedule helps reduce stress. When that activity is a hobby you really enjoy, the worries of the day disappear as you feel fascinated by a pleasurable activity. Hobbies you love are almost a form of meditation; it takes you out of the demands of everyday life and into a place where you focus only on rewarding activities. Your blood pressure lowers, and your body releases mood-enhancing hormones that promote a sense of well-being and happiness.

(5) According to a clinical study, having hobbies you enjoy helps fight off depression. Researchers in the United Kingdom who work with patients with depression instructed therapists to help each patient find a long-lost hobby or new interest that they could follow for at least one or two hours each day. After three months, the researchers asked the patients to rate their sense of identity, usefulness and well-being. The patients who had devoted at least one hour every day to a hobby or leisure activity showed significant improvement in their sense of self-esteem and accomplishment. The researchers have found that when people direct feelings of worthlessness and self-doubt into positive activities such as creating, caring, achieving goals and connecting, the risk of depression decreases.

(6) When people spend their time enjoying their hobbies and passions, it provides a break from the demanding routine of dayto- day life. Hobbies provide opportunities to take risks, set and achieve goals, build confidence and self-esteem, explore your creativity and develop relationships with like-minded people. Thus, it is advised by researchers and experts not to neglect the benefits of having hobbies in developing a full and satisfying life.