The Presses Have Not Overloaded Yet From This Amazing Decade-Old Discovery
A 2012 health sciences article analyzed several studies and reached some profound conclusions. Moderate to intense exercise and leisure time added to one’s regular schedule can add 4.5 to the average person’s life expectancy! Just imagine, you can add years to your life through leisure time!!
The studies did not provide a precise meaning of leisure. However, if we define leisure as “time free from the demands of work or duty, when one can rest, enjoy hobbies or sports, etc,” then the sky is the limit for what activities and pasttimes might count as leisure. These could be activities donewith family and friends or alone. Leisure time could include scheduled times set regularly aside to pursue a hobby or unplanned special moments taken away from the busy grind of every day life.
But just given the definition and results of scientific analysis, can we just reiterate that main point through a different note? Time spent away from regular demands or duty can help add extra time to our lives!
One realization from throughout the ages is how easy it is to forget to set aside extra time for care, renewal, and leisure. Each day, we feel pressed to keep up with so many demands and obligations. As the famous poem lines go:
”I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty;
I woke, and found that life was duty.”
Yes, let me reemphasize leisure! Does leisure time mean time away from our relationships and life callings? No, quite the opposite. Leisure time includes the best moments in our family relationships, friendships, times in community, and time alone. Leisure time allows us to rebalance so we can better fulfill our various roles and responsibilities. As evidence substantiates, leisure time even helps us to be more fit and healthy to better help and serve other people, communities, and the larger world.
As we find 2023 already rolling through its first few weeks, let’s remember to have add fun and leisure to our days. We don’t have to escape from our rigorous work routines or tight carpool schedules with the neighborhood parents. Leisure and fun can be woven in to each regular task or duty. Why not make a pit stop with the neighborhood kids through the local ice-cream drive-thru to get some soft-serve cones? Why not spend lunch break taking a 20 minute walk while listening to your favorite podcast? The sky is the limit to mix fun and leisure with the ever-growing list of demands and obligations present in each day. And again, you are truly adding years to your life by making the most out of your years!!
