What are your hobbies?
What are your hobbies? … When I moved to OKC, I went in search for employment. Having over 3 years in the mental health field, it was the psychiatric and social service positions that I was seeking. In every interview they always asked me, What are you hobbies? I did not get why this question was relevant, not when seeing if I qualified for the job. And even months later, although I said I understood, I really did not. Today, was the day that I totally comprehended why that question may be the most important question asked during the entire interview.
I worked a 16 hr shift, something I have done a lot since I worked at the Children’s Crisis Unit. But today, was the first time that my unraveled mind fully grasped the importance of hobbies. See, God has constructed each of different, each of us with a purpose, each of us with qualities that will help us further His kingdom. And well my heart, I feel its works against me and works for me; my traits are my weakness and yet still my strengths. My traits are both what build me up and what completely shatters me. I have this passion for people, this desire to help people. It sounds weird but I love and care about complete strangers, my heart breaks for complete strangers. With everything in me, I wish I could just help people, change people, and improve their quality of life. Most would say this is a valuable, incredible, unique quality and passion. But that desire can bring me down too. Because when I realize at times that I can’t change and help people as much as I want to or when I see people struggle and I cant pull them out of that dysfunctional pattern, they call life; I feel defeated. And that is where the most relevant question comes to play, What are your hobbies?
When working 16 hours or any hours for that matter, in a field that mentally and emotionally drains you; you got to have a hobby. The idea that the most I can do to protect a child from being abused physically from his father, is to stay on the phone for two hours with the Department of Human Services Child Abuse hotline and just report it; well it depresses me. A scared 16 year old gang affiliated male, acts up and then breaks down because he does not want me to discharge him off the unit, and go back home because he rather be sent to a long-term mental health facility; how can he want to be in a psychiatric hospital over home? Those are questions that baffle me. Or how about the 17 year old female girl, who is 5’ 7” and weighs 85 pounds with severe cuts on her arms that I don’t understand how she held herself together, because when she walks alone I am afraid she is going to break. Or the boy who breaks his own glasses (and he is pretty close to blind) to just satisfy the overbearing desires to cut his arm. Or how about the 11 year-old girl, who locked herself in the bathroom who could not be consoled for hours, because of peer bullying. And this is only 4 out of the 10 severe kids on the unit today. I know that change is a process- a journey, but at times I just wish so hard it could be fixed fast. It aches me, to know that there are so many of our youth going through these heartbreaks. And my strength and desire then become my weakness because when I swipe my badge at the end of my shift to leave, I should leave work at work, I don’t always do that. And that’s where what use to be the feebleminded question, became the most important, crucial question of all. What are my hobbies?
In order to be strong and renewed everyday so that I can come back to work for another chance at changing peoples lives; I need a hobby. Something outside of work that brightens me up. I need something that gets my mind of the aches of my heart and the pain of the world in order for me to keep my sanity. I have to stay healthy, in order to help those be healthy mentally, emotionally, physically and psychologically. Life is hard, really hard. There are numerous of things that break my heart, both in and out of work, but I need to cleanse my spirit and mind. Although my feet feel Iike bricks underwater, I cannot just surrender in pain, I need to surrender to HIM. Hobbies, you ask? Well I pour myself into baking, reading, like to volunteer, love crafts and most importantly completely rely on God. God is not necessarily a hobby. But praying to Him, seeking Him, worshiping Him, learning more about Him, growing closer to Him are all things that I do and need to do, outside of work. It renews my strength, renews my patience, and renews my heart. Provides protection from slipping into a depressive state of mind that just loves to drill in my mind that I am not enough. It helps me realize that with HIM and through HIM, well I’ll always be enough.
What are your hobbies? A hobby is crucial. A hobby, even one that is so simple, can carry so much weight and change your entire mood. It can refresh your entire state of being.
