Learning a new skill or starting a new activity can be one of the greatest pleasures life has to offer. Having a physical activity we can focus on outside of work, or for your younger folks, the classroom can be a great outlet to relieve stress and get those engines running through your system to boost your mood. Of course, not all Hobbies involve physical exercise, as a hobby can be anything from joining a reading club, gardening or having a passion for film and music.
How Hobbies are Passed Down from Different Generations
I was going to go off a tangent (anyone who has read my previous work will be used to this) about hobbies I enjoyed and rank them, but while doing my research on this particular topic, I stumbled across a great article penned by Chums about how our hobbies are passed down to us from different generations.
This got me thinking about how I started to get involved with my favourite hobby, one I am still obsessed with today. Predictably, as a bloke from Britain, that hobby is football, but without my Old man’s obsession with the game, and him dragging me down to a muddy field on a Saturday morning to train from the age of 3 years old, I may never have developed such a passion for sport or fitness in general. I’m 36 years old now, and I still play weekly while dragging myself to the gym 3 to 4 times a week, too. Granted, it’s harder to convince myself to do the latter, but it’s something I still enjoy doing, as sport and physical activity is something that’s been ingrained in my soul by my dad pretty much since I could start walking.
The Influence of Friends and Secondary Family
Now, as I mentioned in my introduction, not all hobbies have to be physical. To quote the chums blog I mentioned earlier, the most popular hobby currently in the UK for men and women is reading, with 69.8% of people surveyed saying this was their favourite pastime. A statistic I find encouraging in this digital age, where we are all glued to our tablets and telephones like leeches to skin.
I used to play chess regularly in my formative years, unfortunately, I dont play anymore, and if im honest, I wasn’t the best player. I vaguely remember entering a tournament with Cub Scouts at 10 years old and subsequently getting knocked out in the first round, but nonetheless, it’s a game I enjoyed.
Again, I most likely would have never discovered my love for chess without being influenced by someone from another generation. This time it was my grandma. Once a week, my grandad would pick me and my sister up after school, as this helped my mother out with childcare while she had to work, as money was tight for a single parent. My grandma was an avid chess player; she regularly beat my Grandad and her friends, and she spent hours teaching me how to play when I was roughly 5 years old. I remember the utter confusion flowing through my brain while trying to navigate the impossible task of how a knight should move, and the difference between check and checkmate.
Why it’s important to have a hobby
Again, this is something I touched on in the opening paragraph, but I feel taking part in an activity you love is so important for us as people. From a younger age, it shaped who I am, and they taught me important life skills such as how to operate in a team, and helped me learn things strategically.
My hobbies help me deal with the sometimes more mundane aspects of life. I always feel I have something to look forward to during my day or week, and I think for me, this is the most important aspect. We can’t go through life without taking part in the things we love.