A hobby is anything that you enjoy doing frequently. It is less demanding and it gives you immense joy. You look forward to something after work or school because you want to release the stress. A hobby helps you to re-energize and recharge. Do you have a hobby?
The importance of hobbies is stressed in schools. Students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities to be well-rounded. Most colleges and employers look for students who participate in extracurricular activities. It shows that they have good time management skills and they can lead a balanced life.
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Why do people have hobbies?
We all have talents and a passion for something. It could be singing, cooking, acting, or painting and some people are lucky enough to turn this into a career. Hobbies enrich your life and keep you sane. Pleasure is the main reason for a hobby. It makes you happier and gives you a sense of purpose.
Sometimes a hobby pushes you to reach your full potential. For some people, it helps them to cope in a stressful environment.
5 Reasons why you need a hobby
De-stress mechanism
A hobby acts as a de-stress mechanism. People who feel burdened will participate in an activity that will ease their burdens. For some people, this can be playing soothing music on the piano or dribbling a ball on the basketball court.
Without this stress reliever, we would be miserable. It clears our minds off things that demand a lot of concentration from us. Studies have been conducted to prove that hobbies reduce stress levels. In one study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, female heart patients reported a significant decrease in their heart rate and blood pressure while working on simple craft projects. (Lluch,2009).
A sense of purpose
Hobbies give you a sense of purpose. You have something to look forward to after school and work. You set personal goals for yourself and work to achieve them. If you want to be a better hockey player you decide that you will get better by a particular time. Then you set your schedule and work toward your personal goal. You are engaged in something other than school and work. After you finish school or retire, you can still engage in something you love. You still have some sort of purpose.
You learn lifelong lessons
Depending on your hobby, you will learn different life lessons. However, the main ones are how to work in a team and how to bounce back from failure. Not all hobbies will teach you the same things, but they will be similar.
Create friendships and boost your social skills
Having friends who share the same hobby can enrich your life. You are not limited to one realm such as work and school. You expand your network outside of that by having a hobby. This applies to hobbies that require more than one person, such as sports. It helps you to socialize, and you can build your people skills.
For introverts, participating in a hobby can help them to practice their people skills. People are more expressive when they talk about their passions. This will benefit people who are shy and find it difficult to socialize with people in general. They will have interesting things to talk about with someone who can relate to them.
Build self-esteem and inspire others
If you are not confident about anything, be confident about your hobby. Most people were not good when they started learning something new. They practiced until they were competent, and over that period they developed their self-esteem. A hobby can give you self-confidence when you become great at something.
You will inspire many people when you are great at something that you love. You will build the self-esteem of others around you, especially those who will look up to you. Famous athletes and artists influence upcoming athletes and artists. I think their confidence spread to those who aspire to be like them.
Wrapping it up
A hobby is something that everyone should get involved in. It makes your life interesting and it can help you to cope with stress. Hobbies will develop you as a person as you learn lessons that can guide you in life. It teaches you to be well-rounded and expand your horizon.