1 . Find your new favorite hobby

Challenging and fun hobbies have the power to make us happier and healthier. They can lead to better physical health, lower stress, greater life satisfaction, a larger social network and improve work performance.     1     But where do you start? Here are some tips on how to discover the hobbies you don’t yet know you’ll love.

Ask yourself how you want to feel

Hobbies present an escape — they can help you get out of your head and calm down. Ask yourself how you want an activity to make you feel. Mentally engaged? Distracted? Relaxed? Socially connected?     2     Recognize that you have different needs at different moments, and that’s OK.

Start small

    3     Try to figure out gradually if it’s right for you. You can always do more later. If you’re wondering if paintballing might be a good fit, join an outing or two with a local Meet-up group. Or sign up for a one-time pottery class rather than a set of eight.

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When people feel guilty about spending time on leisure, they experience increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Give yourself permission to do something that you like and keep in mind that if a hobby makes you healthier and happier, everyone around you will benefit. Think of discovering new hobbies as a way to add new dimensions to your life, and enjoy the process.

Take a trip back in time

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? The answer could point you toward an appealing hobby. Revisit some activities you loved when you were young, like drawing, putting together model kits, collecting things or building clay figures, which is really helpful to start your new hobbies.     5    

Keep a list

Keep a list on your fridge or other things of all the things that strike you as interesting. Write down potential interests as they come to you, and you’ll have no shortage of options to explore when you’re ready.

3 . It’s often said that travel is all about the journey, but it can be almost as exciting to travel the world from the comfort of our homes. Just pick up several travel books that share the extraordinary ability to transport readers through time and space.

The Last Ride of the Pony Express

In 2019, American journalist Will Grant took on a 2,000-mile journey on horseback. Grant describes his 142-day adventure following the Pony Express that operated between April 1860 and October 1861. The Pony Express once used riders who traveled on horseback to deliver mall. While Grant reflects on the West’s modernization over time, it’s his vivid (生动的) descriptions of local residents along the way that make the book a real page-turner.

Unforgettable Journey s Europe

The book shows travel really is all about “getting there”. This inspirational book details 150 of Europe’s best slow adventures, such as kayaking through Lithuania and crossing the Arctic Circle by train. Photos, maps and plenty of information(including start and end points for trails, difficulty ratings and website links) are spread throughout the text, making the book as much colorful reference as it is inspiring to read.

Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time

After a decade of living in the Scottish Highlands, native Bulgarian Kapka Kassabova returned to her roots (根) in Mesta Valley, a rural region known for its wild crops. The poet and writer set out to study the deep relationship between the area’s people and plants, as well as with the land itself. Her text explorers a lesser-known area filled with nature and traditional customs.

The Life Cycle

British writer and cyclist Kate Rawles took a 13-month journey across the length of the Andes Mountains en a self-built bamboo bicycle. During this journey, the author saw firsthand the harmful impacts of extreme biodiversity loss caused by human activity such as cutting down trees. She shared her concerns and insight in her book, and expected to inspire actions.

10 . Praying for Bea

I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with Bea on my mind. I could not seem to _________ her name or her face from my thoughts so I decided to pray for her. I had no idea why but I knew that I should pray.

Bea had been my son’s _________ writing teacher three years earlier. We were just acquaintances (相识). I didn’t understand why I had such a strong _________ to pray for her.

The next morning, I had my usual Bible study group to _________. It was at the church where my son had attended kindergarten.

When I arrived early and entered the meeting room, a friend called out to me to see this woman who had to decide whether or not to _________ a heart transplant. She needed it badly, but her husband had just _________ and she worried about who would raise her four young boys if she didn’t _________ it through the transplant.

The woman was Bea. In shock, I told my friend, “I have been _________ for her all night.”

I had no idea that Bea had been on the waiting list for a heart transplant at UCLA, looking out a window at Bea sitting in her car making that _________.

I have often wondered since that night how many other people might also have had the same wake-up call to pray for Bea.

Bea decided to get the __________. She told me later that she had asked God if He could please make that transplant last for ten years so that she could raise the boys before it __________

God answered her prayers and the new transplanted heart __________ eleven years. This brought the ages of her sons to eighteen through twenty-eight years of age. They were well past the age of needing to be __________.

Bea received yet a second heart transplant and is __________ doing very well, enjoying her family and her grandkids. And the __________ is that we ended up becoming good friends!