Wow, it has been an unbelievable year. For many, they were unable to go to work for extended periods of time, then were thrust back into a market with fears of the pandemic, as well as a number of concerns related to financial matters. Lots of people wound up struggling to make ends meet during this time, and stress became a serious issue.
Stress can do a lot of damage. The American Institute of Stress has shown that several studies have proven that stress can cause significant damage to your psychological and physical health, including causing excessive amounts of anxiety, impulse buying, feelings of paranoia and suspicion, frequent crying spells and suicidal thoughts, insomnia, racing thoughts, and even physical pain or digestive problems.
It is clearly a problem that can do a lot of damage to you, and is why you need to make the most of your leisure opportunities. This can help to rejuvenate your spirit, and help you overcome stress so that you can better function in life.
Making Time for Yourself
The problem is that many people do not afford themselves the kind of time they need to rejuvenate. You may be a person who falls into this class. You know that you feel better after playing racquetball, going fishing, or even going on a long drive, but do not allocate time to do so.
Proper time management is an essential part of ensuring that leisure time is included. Much like psychologists discuss that married couples need to include a date night to ensure they have time to reconnect and strengthen their relationship, setting aside time to allow for leisure is essential.
Explains Ahmed Alawadhi, “Time-management aids me to segregate time for my leisure and travel, even while commandeering 3 firms and more than 6 countries involved in my sundry projects.”
Doing Things You Enjoy
The best part about including leisure activities in your time is that this can be anything you enjoy doing. You do not have to feel like this is a time where you do a specific activity or agree to meet certain people. Mandating certain types of leisure activities is only going to bring stress to the activities themselves, which defeats the whole purpose.
This means that if you enjoy an occasional bet on sports or a day out hunting, there is nothing wrong with that. This is your leisure activity, and you should do what you enjoy doing. The purpose of this is for you to overcome stress, so go out and enjoy those things.
Do them intelligently of course. Overdoing it with gambling or other activities can create stress for you. So, ensure that you are doing things safely and within reason.
Ok, But What Do I Do?
The problem for some people is that they have not learned how to enjoy life. They spend so much time at work, dealing with their family, and handling other people’s problems that they have never really taken the time to find a hobby or activity they enjoy doing. That can make it tough.
The truth is you do not need to do some kind of extravagant activity to make it enjoyable. You do not need to go on a big vacation, take the family camping, or buy yourself a boat so you can spend some time out of the water.
There are lots of very simple things you can do that can remove stress and help you enjoy life more fully. These can be things like reading, hiking, baking, gardening, writing, volunteering your time, or listening to music. Go to some concerts, go for a long walk every day, or simply sit back in front of the fireplace with a good book, a cup of tea, and be absolutely quiet and enjoy your day.
If you include leisure time in your day, you are going to have a lot more enjoyable life. You deserve that, and those around you will enjoy being around you a lot more.
