What are the benefits of having a hobby?

I believe there are many benefits of hobbies for all people. For those who work or study it can be a way to relax and clear your mind from the stresses of work/study/everyday life. As we get older it can be a way for us to keep physically or mentally active. It is also a way for us to socialise outside of our family and normal circle of friends. It enables us to fill in our day/night with fun activies rather than dwelling on the stresses of life/money or being alone. I think having hobbies is important for a chance to live a longer and happier life.

mostly i feel that hobbies keep your hand busy, you know what they say that "idle hands are the devils playground" so fi you keep busy you can't get in trouble right?

It can give you practice for you hands and head.and it can bring you money with the hobby.

I am a hopeless reader and music lover. I love to travel a lot. every year, I take a long distance train journey, through which I meet many new people, scare my stomach with unknown food items that I buy from different stations and raise my resistance level high, both culturally and healthwise.I combine some reading and music in my train journeys and that's simply heaven for me! I believe hobbies make us very systematic. In my case I have collected a lot of music cassttes/Cds and categorised them, and I have a good library at home, which I keep neat and orderly. Even the train journeys that Iorganize every year calls for some patient planning. I guess the fact that I have some good hobbies reflect inmy work as well. I can see my work as a hobby now, as long as I am not bored of it, or not convinced of its purpose.

Hobbies are good relaxers. One of the elderly women at the nursing home does puzzles. I myself like to color. For some reason that relaxes me a lot. Who knows why. Hobbies also keep our minds active. They challenge you to accomplish something and when you are finished there is a sense of elation. I also like to sing and go in and sing to the residents as I go along my way doing my work. One of the elderly ladies tickled me pink. I came up to her and was singing "You Are My Sunshine" and she looked at me and commented to me not to quit my day job. Me and a couple of co-workers started laughing.

I have one hobby. That is collection of coins. Though I don't have a large collection, I have nearly 1000 coins, from various countries, various eras etc. I enjoy it. Now I am planning to put some for auction in ebay. Hobbies give us some creative pleassure. That pleassure leads us to some sort of satisfaction. Good hobbies are helpful for the health of both your mind and body. Thank you, gberlin.

For me, having a hobby helps me in having time for myself. It keeps me busy and I could "escape the real world" for even just a few minutes with my hobby. I could get immerse in what I'm doing for a few hours then I'll get back to the real world and face my troubles. LOL.

Hobbies keep us occupied. My hobbies are - reading, stamp collection, listening to music and photography. All these have served the purpose of stress-relievers to me. They create a sense of purpose in life, and makes me ready for the challenges in life. They also remind me how beautiful this life is. for instance, when I am able to capture a wonderful moment in nature, it lifts up my soul and makes me feel content and blissful.