Philosophy of Recreation and Leisure Essay Example

style="text-align: justify">However, some of my friends who joined were a bit skeptical about the whole experience. One mentioned that the place is too boring for his preference and wanted a more challenging place to go kayaking. On the other hand, one friend of mine who also joined us thought that the experience was not totally fun because she got sick on the way and had to literally stay in the cottage and rest. With these, it can be argued that perceptions are a vital component in the way people view recreation. There may be practices and activities that are appealing to some but may seem dull and boring to others.

Another important aspect of my philosophy in recreation is the ability to create opportunities to communicate with other people. I believe that for one recreation to be meaningful it must not only be fun and cater to the bodily needs of an individual, it must also facilitate better opportunities for interaction and mingling with other people. It is through this that I can understand better how to communicate and create opportunities of interaction among people. It is through such thing that we become to understand our various roles in society as a whole.

Through early childhood experiences we learn the advantage of trying to see the situation from the perspective of others (role-taking), using that information to anticipate their actions and to adjust our behavior accordingly” (Samdahl, 1992, p. 27) One example of which is when I go to parties of other people to drink and relax. In the process of such, the initial objective is again accompanied by communicating with friend and

meeting other people. What once was trying to drink and relax, turned out to be a better scenario since I began to associate with other people, talk about things and party.

Such incidence created better opportunities for me to develop my interpersonal skills and my self confidence as a person. Seeing this, that experience facilitated not only my personal satisfaction but also became an avenue for learning and development. My Philosophy: Leisure On the other hand, as an individual I must not only focus on activities that will create or necessitate a fun feeling. Leisure for me is an important facet where recreation is only a subset. Leisure on the other hand is the totalities of how man spends his/her free time.

Compared to recreation that is only aimed at creating a fun and enjoy environment, leisure seeks to showcase a holistic development among individuals who partake of such activities. “Leisure is when an individual is doing something that he or she wants to do as well as enjoys doing” (Holberg, 2008). It is through this that man develops his/her sense of identity – on how each one addresses their free time. One important tenet of my philosophy concerning leisure is that it must cater to learning and development of an individual. For example, on my part, I like engaging myself with board games either with a friend or a computer.

My favorite in particular is scrabble. I can attest that such activity is entertaining in general, but on the other hand the choice of words; strategy and the communication (with a human opponent) offer a great insight and development of my

technical, communication and vocabulary skills. This in turn reaps me positive impacts and at the same time I am entertained by it. Another experience that supplements such notion is when I play sports with my friends and colleagues in the community. Playing basketball for example is a process in which I gain my physical satisfaction as an individual and learn to communicate and coordinate as a team.

With the goal and the overall objective to win, each player is motivated to create outcomes that will benefit the team. This process of collaborative effort among different individuals with the objective to win the game is indeed a sign that it reaps enjoyment and a level of team play involved in the process. The balanced interplay between the passive and active leisure is also an important facet of my philosophy. I believe that as an individual, must actively balance the activities he/she does during their free time. Having a balanced way of doing things I believe can also administer the same satisfaction contrary to overdoing it.

On the other hand, there is a positive effect of such practice. Not only shall it give an individual a sense of fulfillment and enjoyment, it also provides them the opportunity to be dynamic and have the capability of learning more because such individuals engage more. With my experience, I have been engaged in numerous active and passive activities that may have taken the toll of my free time. Listening to the radio, playing video games, surfing the internet, reading are just some example of how I create my passive leisure time.

These activities that I had mentioned

contribute to my individual growth and development. Also it helps facilitate various improvements with the way I feel and my capability to be adaptive to the current changes happening in society. On the other hand, my practice of active activities is aimed at creating fun and eliminating the stressful components inside my body. Due to the relevant pressure and stress brought about by different factors, I also have to spend some time engaging in physical activities to help my body be fit and healthy to cope with the conditions that society and the environment can give me.

I do advocate such concepts because I realize the importance of one’s body in the aim of working and being successful in life. This has been a vital important of many scholars in their study of the relationship between leisure and self improvement. “As leisure and recreation are recognized to be important by numerous organizations whose interests are varied as retired persons, youth, health, economic development and the natural environment, research is finally being undertaken which considers leisure in its totality with regard to a social problem or issue” (Godbey, 2000, p. 9). Another important facet on my philosophy concerning leisure is that it should foster positive benefits on an individual especially in the parameters of health.

I had mentioned before that I believe in the balance between active and passive leisure. But, given this scenario, I also believe that the activities or practices that you do must contribute to your overall wellness as a person. Seeing this, it can be a good approach in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. “Recreation and leisure activities may be one

of our best methods for curbing our rising medical costs... n an era in which medical costs continue to escalate and our ability to provide ability to provide medical care for all segments of the population has lessened, maintaining good health pays dividends” (Hoblerg, 2008).

Since the concept of leisure is based on preferences of individuals, my philosophy concerning leisure and recreation is that it must not be bias or prejudiced against other people. Sometimes, we individuals are practicing discrimination and bias in the way we do things. Though at times it may be unintentional in nature, the point of the matter is that the practice of leisure is subjective and individualized thus the action must not stray in the direction of creating bias and prejudice against other people.

Conclusion My philosophy of recreation and leisure emanates and revolves around the concept of the pursuit of satisfaction and fulfillment on a balanced way. I believe that by harmonizing and balancing these active and passive practices with a concern on objectivity towards other people can lead to healthier lifestyle that can cope and adjust to the challenges in today’s society and environment.