That was a bleak Friday in November, and I have spent almost full day trying to come up with possible excuses to get out of doing any work. Suddenly an idea blinked in my mind. I’ve some good habit of travelling, photography and reading novels in my leisure times. I can proudly say these as my hobby too. But what are my friends and colleague’s hobby? Are they also doing something productive in their free time? I felt interest to know about this.
Don’t you think it’s an exciting thing to know? By knowing one’s hobby, you can simply recognize a person’s nature too.
“Having more free time is likely more important for happiness than having more money.” — Ashley Whillans
I started being active in social media, and randomly asked my friends about their hobby, what they love to do, and what not. If the answer seems okay to me, then also asked them, why this is their hobby? Near about 50 people answered my questions. You know what, the result I got was frustrating. More than 50% people don’t have any hobby, or they don’t want to know even what they want to do.
Do you know why having hobby is important in human life succession? Recently the Society for Personality and Social Psychology conducted a research on about Happiness, titled “Valuing Your Time More Than Money is Linked to Happiness”, and they found, valuing your time more than the pursuit of money leads to spirits of greater happiness. And by cherishing your time, they mean spending it astutely on hobbies, exercising or presence with your family.
But maximum of my respondents have no specific hobby, or they don’t clearly know what they love to do. I got some funny responds in return of my question about their hobby. Like, few people responded, sleeping and shopping as their hobby. How could shopping or sleeping be someone’s hobby? I really don’t get it. No offence, I don’t appreciate these types of hobbies. If todays young energetic people’s conditions are like this, then our parents should think what they taught to their children.
“Parents, first and foremost, it is important to… understand and recognise the activities your child is naturally gravitating towards. It’s important also to ensure that your child likes what he or she is doing. I believe in exposing children to as many hobbies and extracurricular activities as possible.” — Viswanathan Anand.
Few days back, one of my ex-colleague borrowed a book from me for his mother. As per him, buying and reading books are old fashion, and he doesn’t like to read books. Rather he spends time chatting with his friends. But his mother loves to read novels.
Now my question is, who is smarter? The boy or his mother? I’ll vote for his mom, though he said chatting with friends helps him to increase his PR.
A very less number of people answered that they love to read books, or articles. Few people go for photography, when they are free. They take photos of roads, peoples, foods, and what not. In my words, that’s quite good habit. They can feel the people and nature closely. Some people like to travel. Whenever they are free enough, they run away to visit the country and sometimes beyond the country.
“Better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.” — Asian Proverb
Peoples are changing everyday. They are not the same now. I’m not saying people should not change. Change is good. But only if it gives you good result. I’ve also changed myself, and with some good quality, which I didn’t have five years back. People should live their dreams, and follow their heart. Never leave your dreams. Your dreams can lead you to success. One day. Surely.
Don’t neglect hobbies. Who knows, someday this might help you to be a world renowned person. I know someone who is an Engineer. Whenever he gets time he goes for photography here and there. He once photographed a rare moment of saving a deer from the water, which later published in world renowned newspaper and websites like, daily mail uk, daily express, national geography, and top all local newspapers. He managed his time for hobby. That’s it. That simple calculation made him famous.
You might be too busy with your regular life. But don’t say, you don’t have any free time. Most of us have a lot of time we’re not using well, which we could be spending on our hobbies. From your everyday life, keep 30 minutes for yourself. For self-development. If you start small today, shortly it’ll automatically adjust within your daily life.
Your hobby may not perfect for you, but trust me live with that, you can have a lot of fun trying out new things and exploring what’s out there. Don’t be afraid. Faff around what you like to do, and you may even fool yourself into being happier. The more you spend time for yourself, the better. It’s common sense, buddy 😉
Originally published at medium.com