It is
always possible to keep the spirit to do something that you like alive. It
doesn’t matter for how long you haven’t done it, or abstained yourself from
doing it, or how much you have forgotten the way of doing it. Just like
painting, dancing, singing, listening to music, talking, smiling, clicking nice
photographs, being clicked, making friends, writing stories, narrating stories,
going for a trekking or a hike, cycling, playing guitar or flute or drum,
cooking, eating, drinking, roaming around, even fooling around without a
purpose, it doesn’t matter how foolish or simple it is. Whatever it is, it’s a
Hobby, and a hobby can never ever be fruitless, or useless, or worthless. It is
something that always gives and gives, and just asks for a little interest and
desire to do it. Is it so hard to do something that makes you happy, that turns
your extra time into productive, your wasteful expenditure into useful
spending, your stupidities into enjoyment and your dullness into amazement and
fun, and so on and on? I say it’s not!
How hard is
it to take just two hours after office to read a book, or to paint a little
part of your painting, or to write one paragraph of your story, or to make one
pizza, or to go for one refreshing walk and have an ice cream, or to go to the
nearby garden and play gully-cricket with the kids? Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It
IS simple. Do you not think one hour is something you just waste like anything
on a normal day, and say “OMG! I haven’t got even a minute to breath, how can I
possibly pursue a hobby?” I mean c’mon are you kidding me? You have got enough
time, ask yourself, haven’t you? Everybody, even the President has got the time
to read five pages of his favourite book everyday and finish it within a month.
Even bill gates got the time to write a book! The lamest excuse is “I wish I could,
but I am so busy!” Eh! C’mon have you never heard this idiom “Busiest men have
the most leisure and busiest men find the most time”? You know why
those people are always busy? They are busy because they find the time for
everything, they do everything they like, they always say YES to almost
everything! Are they Super-heroes? Or are you the one who only says no all the
time? I think I need not answer this. It is all about prioritizing your time.
That is what is called “Time management” by our intelligent friends, which we
never seem to understand, because normal people can never understand words that
include the term ‘management’ in them. We can understand business, but not
business management, we understand anger, but not anger management, time, but
not time management, we know people but not people management. Oh wait! We do
not know any of them, neither people, nor their management, people is a bigger
thing that must be discussed later :) so yeah,
we do not find ease with the word management.
So what?
Big deal? If not anything else, just go home from office and spend time with
your family, your mother, father, wife and kids, call your friends up and talk
to them. For this, what a close of mine, Ben, does is make a list of all his
friends, close or far make it a habit to check the list once in a while, and
call them up, talk to them, ask them about their lives, tell them about what is
going on with our own lives, get to know about them at times, share our own
problems and solve theirs too, if not, just call up and say a simple
“Hieeeeee!!” to them with a smile, ask them how are they and that’s it. It
doesn’t need more than 10 minutes to call up one friend at the end of the day;
do those ten minutes feel like any loss of track of time to you? I don’t think
they do! I think if they do not teach you how to “manage” your time, it at
least bring you closer to your family and friends! Is that a thing too small
that it doesn’t deserve a little time from your “busy” schedule? Nope! I say
whatever you do, you get something in return, something good, be it good health
from 10 minute of simple exercise, little satisfaction from a little cooking
you do, even if it is just a sandwich, be it just a little happiness from
playing a game of scrabble with a friend, be it a little more eaten while you
have your dinner with your family at the weekend, be it a thing too small to
get noticed, you always get something good from every minute spent doing
something to pursue your hobby! So never say “Ahh! How I wish I could do
something of my choice, but I don’t have any time”. Just try to adjust, try to
accommodate, and who doesn’t like to accommodate activities of their choice in
the gaps they get while working for money? A little break is always good. If
you like chit chatting, you can even chat with your colleagues at the office
during the lunch time! Who says people at work cannot be your friends? They can
be, best if you do not involve office gossip in the chit chat (if you know what
I mean).
Who says
you cannot call a friend who doesn’t call you? Who says you cannot cook if you
cook not so well? Who says you cannot draw a sketch if it isn’t as good as a
picture hanging in the art gallery? Who says you cannot cycle if you have
become fat? In fact, the cycling you do now will be more worth it! Who says you
cannot write if it doesn’t become the most read or the novel that earns a
booker’s prize? Do it all for yourself! Not for earning or getting
something. Just do it, for yourself! For it is only you who can do what you
like. No one is going to make you happy by cooking, or singing or dancing or
painting or reading on your behalf. It is only you who can follow your dreams,
not your family or friends or kids. In the end, it is only you, who cares about
your own happiness, your hobbies. So, just do it, don’t think of it as a hobby
that cannot be pursued because you do not have time. Think of it as a thing
that you love so much that it is just effortless for you to take out an hour or
two for it. If nothing, you will at least end up making half a painting, a
ruined burnt dinner, a stupid dance for your loved ones, an awfully clicked
photograph, and if nothing else, you will at least get to know your family,
your friends, yourself! Is that not a deal good enough for an hour or two?
So, never
say “I don’t have the time; I am busy keeping up with my work schedule, I
cannot manage the time, I don’t have the weekend off, I don’t get enough spare
time because of our naughty children, or, I just haven’t painted for a long
time now!” all these are the lamest of excuses for running away from yourself.
Just remember, your hobbies are the only thing that are yours for keeps till
the end of time, and the one who pursues their hobbies never falls short of time.
When your hobbies keep you busy, you have not time to waste, you have no time
to cry or whine, you have no time left to say, “I don’t have the time!!” if you
are busy with your hobbies, you are happy with yourself, and if you are happy
with yourself, why on earth would you even need someone else to make you happy?
Hobbies make you enough for yourself! Wouldn’t that be an amazing feeling? Wow!
So, which one are you? The empty vessel or the one with all the leisure? I
think I know it, because I know, everybody wants to be the busiest one who has
a LIFE too. So just pick that pen, that paintbrush, that music player, those
kitchen accessories and be happy with yourself! Keep smiling, love yourself,
and your Hobbies. :)
