Someone wise once said, “If you chose a job you love, you will never work a day in your life!”
Not all of us get the opportunity to work in jobs that we would consider “our passion”. Even if it is a job you enjoy, the repetitive nature of work can make it feel like a burden at times. It is important to make time to do something you love. Of course, I am writing this as the summer is winding down and it may be too late to book your dream vacation. However, getting regular time to do something you enjoy is key to a healthy life at any time in the year!
In researching depression and anxiety, one “tip” that stuck out to me was this: Do something you liked when you were 10 years old! Many of us, as we get older than 10, develop hobbies and interests that we feel we “should” enjoy. They may be something that will further us in our career or look good on a resume. They may be things our friends enjoy, even if we don’t. When we were 10 years old, we just did what we liked, whether we were good at it or not. After that time, we may have discarded our passions because we thought we were “wasting our time”. Whether we will ever be a recognized artist or athlete or musician in a field should not stop us from spending time on something we enjoy. Spending time at an activity we love will rejuvenate us to excel more in other areas of our lives.
This applies to getting exercise. The message is loud and clear- all the experts agree- we need to be active to be fit. But if we choose a form of exercise that we loathe just to accomplish this goal, it is very hard to sustain a work-out routine. If we chose something we enjoy, even if we aren’t great at it, we will get a lot farther.
My father is 91 years old. He has recently suffered some health challenges and his equilibrium is not great. He has never been a walker, and has no desire to “go for a walk around the block”. However, he loves tennis and has played daily for much of his life. This month my sister and I took him to the court where I “spotted him” while my sister rallied with him. She needed to hit directly to him and he could only last about 10 minutes, but this was more meaningful exercise than he has had in a long time! I hesitated to include the picture, as I have told people that my father’s health is failing, and I know that they will now think I’m a big fat liar. However, here he is playing tennis at 91 ½!!!
I want you to know I believe in practicing what I preach. I know the expression, “all work and no play makes Dave a dull boy”. I spent my summer holiday this year “vacationing” at a Preteen Camp with our church. I took 51 kids from Toronto to a beautiful camp in Maine where I played dodge ball and water guns and led camp fire devotional songs and had a great time. It wasn’t a relaxing vacation, but it was a rejuvenating time.
So let me encourage you to find out what rejuvenates you and dedicate some time to it. You are never too old to take lessons in a musical instrument, art or dance classes, or coach a kid’s sport team. Your health is worth it!
As Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” Don’t miss an opportunity to do what you love!!!