Are you watching television more than two hours each day?
Is your day filled with napping, nodding, and day dreaming?
Is meal time the most enjoyable and anticipated time of your day?
Are you mentally and intellectually lethargic and sluggish?
Do the visitors that come into your world pose the only stimulation, excitement, aggravation, pleasure, or distraction to your day?
If you answered "Yes" to any of the above questions . . . you may need to find a life-saving hobby.
Hobbies are more than empty pastimes (things to pass the time).
They are more than vain or useless play.
They are not always frivolous or petty.
Hobbies can be more than simply nonsensical piddlings or odd compulsions.
Hobbies can be exercise for your body, soul, spirit, heart, and mind.
They can challenge you.
They can wake you up and activate you.
They can make you think, work, study, learn, hear, see, touch, feel, and do.
Hobbies can reward you. They can reintroduce you to achievement and accomplishment. They are something to start . . . and to finish.
A good hobby can give you purpose . . . a great hobby can give your life new meaning. An extraordinary hobby can change the world around you.
Turn off the TV and go to http://discoverahobby.com/ today.
Repeating the same boring life over and over again?
Try these to get you moving.
1. Go somewhere you've never gone before.
2. Do something you've never done before.
3. Make a new friend.
4. Learn something new.
5. Listen to a new station.
6. Buy a new hat.
7. Take a different route.
8. Eat something you've never tasted before.
9. Get a new do.
10. Put something in your pocket that no one knows you have.
1. Go somewhere you've never gone.
It doesn't have to be to the moon . . . or Paris . . . or the Grand Canyon. Maybe just the next town over, a store, shop, or public spot where you've never been. The Library, the Mall, the Fountain, the Tower. Find that historical marker, the local venue in the city brochure, or that dingy flea market. Drive until you get lost, then find your way home.
Expose yourself to new and different sights and sounds. Meet new people. Stir up your location.
2. Do something you've never done before.
Nothing illegal! Maybe not even risky or dangerous. Maybe even something plain and mundane -- but something different.
Break the monotony of your actions.
3. Make a new friend.
Do you even remember how to do this? If this step seems daunting to you -- you really need it. Find someone going up, living up, looking up. Find someone who is bright, enthusiastic, and positive. Find a successful person - or someone on their way to success. Find someone with drive and determination. Find someone headed toward tomorrow, and follow them!
Don't throw away any of your old friends --- but make at least one new one.
4. Learn something new.
It doesn't have to be a new language! Maybe just a useless fact or vocabulary word. Find something that interests you and stirs your mind.
Scare the heck out of your brain by dropping something new and unusual into it.
5. Listen to a new station.
Listen to your Dad's music, or your Grand Dad's. Listen to your kid's music, or your Grand Kid's. Give talk radio a whirl, see what's on NPR. Find something ethnic. It can be quiet and soothing or jumping.
Use the DIAL or the scan button -- don't just hit the presets.
6. Buy a new hat.
Or new shoes. Or a bow tie. Or a purse, or a belt. A small piece of jewelry. You don't have to pierce your nose or get a tattoo! Just find a small adornment, a new pin for you lapel, or a pen for your shirt pocket. It doesn't have to be flashy or expensive. A new scarf or handkerchief.
MAKE someone say, "There's something different about you! But I just can't place it."
7. Take a different route.
Go to work or school a different way. Go home a different way. Take the long way, the scenic route. MAKE yourself look at your surroundings instead of driving in a daze to your next location. Go left instead of right.
Is life really about the journey? Or just about arriving?
8. Eat something you've never tasted before.
It doesn't have to be sushi or snails (both are delicious, BTW). Ditch that PB&J and have some macaroni! Trash those Raimen noodles and have corned beef or lox on a bagel. There are SO many flavors in the world! Spicy, Sweet, Sour, Salty! Eat a crawdad, or an alligator, fried instead of scrambled.
How will you know if you like ANYTHING . . . if you don't try it first.
9. Get a new do.
You don't have to shave your head (though it worked for Britney), or color your tresses green or blue. Grow a mustache -- or if you have one -- shave or wax it off! Flip it a different way, spike it, or pull it back. Wear it shorter-- or longer. Get a new style or curl ... or straighten it out.
Hair is so doable ... do something new with it.
10. Put something in your pocket that no one knows you have.
(Maybe something Preeeeecious). Something secret. Something that only you have or know about. Something odd or unusual. Something that no one will ever know.
Let me know how these work for you.
