Happiness: Hobbies

I am a man of many hobbies. In fact, my wife could argue that I have one or two or three too many hobbies to fit into one pee sized brain. I believe however that hobbies are one of the world's most important keys to being happy.

Hobbies have been around for what I can only assume is as long as mankind has had the ability to think beyond their more basic needs. Where historically our ancestors may not have had time to think of much other than food, shelter, and survival, most of us have the luxury of thinking beyond those necessities. If that is the case for you, you might have hobbies that include dancing, bike riding, working out, crafting, auto mechanics or much more.

Personally, my hobbies include working out, game design, hunting, playing the guitar, self help studies, and psychology. Whether you share any of these hobbies makes no difference. In fact, there are probably few in the world who share my exact same list of hobbies. That's just yet another great part about them. Hobbies can help make us unique, exciting, and fun to be around. This can then influence others around us in a positive manner. That's not to mention the positive effect that a hobby can have on you, yourself.



Hobbies can however be a double edged sword. For instance, if it is a hobby that was not yours to choose and was chosen for you, you may not hold the same positive mindset about them as others who have chosen them without outside influence. This is why I would caution everyone who is looking for happiness in a hobby to make sure that they are constantly self checking to see whether they actually enjoy what they are doing. The second that a hobby becomes something that is not enjoyable, it no longer becomes a hobby that would appear to be worth any of your time. Life is too short to spend time on hobbies that don't bring you happiness.

If however you have thought about picking up a hobby and have not done so yet, I would urge you to take the plunge. Whatever the hobby may be, if there is a low cost way to enter into it, I would say to leap head first into it. If it turns out that you don't like it, there is usually a way to sell whatever it was that you had to purchase to get into it. If however you did not have to buy anything to take a chance on the activity, you should try to look back on the hobby as one more thing that you found out that you don't need to take your time on and move on to other things that may bring you more joy.

That I believe is one more way to ensure you have a happy, healthy, and wealthy life. If you yourself have a hobby that I haven't shared here and think it would benefit others to hear about, please share it in the comments for anyone who may be too nervous to otherwise take the plunge. Stay safe and have a happy life, everyone!