Do you have a hobby?

What do you do for fun; just to relax and to re-create yourself? All of us live very busy lives. In fact, I don’t know too many people who are not busy. But, sometimes, we need to stop all of that and just chill out! If we don’t, we will bog down our productivity. My time management motto is “work hard, rest hard, play hard.” In order to keep my sanity I have always attempted to keep all of this in balance.

Until a year and a half ago I was single and had a fairly low stress church staff position at a church in South Carolina. I was definitely busy, and needed to be sure I maintained balance in life, but not near as busy as I am now that I am married, have a baby, and pastor a church. But I have learned that the busier and more stressful life becomes, even when you are overwhelmed with responsibility, it is more important than ever to maintain balance between work/rest/play.

Yes, “play”. This is not just for children. As adults we would do ourselves a service by finding some activity which brings us joy, something “fun”, and taking the time each week to pursue it.

Many times our tendency is to just work, work work, and then rest when we can. Let me suggest to you that this is a recipe for an un-productive life. You will be able to tackle your responsibilities with greater effectiveness if you maintain balance between all your responsibilities and other activities of rest and play.

My suggestion…get a hobby. It could be something you do with your family or a group of friends. Or it could be something you do by yourself. For me, I love the outdoors. I actually have more hobbies related to the outdoors than I have time to pursue.

It amazes me how many people do not have hobbies. Go find one. Learn to relax.