Have a Hobby to be Happy

It's our prelims this week. We had our gross anatomy exam earlier this day and we have five more exams lined up for this week. I'm supposed to be reviewing and looking at my notes but one more look would make me puke. (Oh, what a lousy rhyme! Just like the title) I need a break! So, here I am blogging again, my newest hobby which makes me happy.

I don't have much time to think and write a long post now so I'll just share the words of Sir William Osler, a doctor and writer who has been called "the father of modern medicine." If you are a medical student, you can relate to this especially if you're a reader.

"While medicine is to be your vocation or calling, see to it that you have an avocation- some intellectual pastime which may serve to keep you in touch with the world of art, of science, or of letters. Begin at once the cultivation of some interest other than purely professional. The difficulty is in a selection and the choice will be different according to your tastes and training. No matter what it is, have an outside hobby.

For the hardworking medical student it is easier perhaps to keep up an interest in literature. Let each subject in your year's work have a corresponding outside author. When tired of anatomy refresh your minds with Oliver Wendell Holmes; after a worrying subject in physiology, turn to the great idealists, to Shelley or to Keats, for consolation; when chemistry distresses your soul, seek peace in the great pacifier, Shakespeare; ten minutes with Montaigne will lighten the burden. 

No man is really happy or safe without a hobby, and it makes precious difference what the outside interest may be- botany, beetles, or butterflies, roses, tulips or irises: fishing, mountaineering or antiquities- anything will do so long as he straddles a hobby and rides it hard."

As for me, I have hobbies which sometimes compete with my study time. Even if I have to dedicate more time to studying, I don't want to give up any of my interests - sports, music, writing, and especially reading. Dr. Osler recommended literature to refresh our minds. And that is also what I do! When my mind is tired of reading and studying sciences, I just grab a book (any of the books which I am juggling to read these days) from my shelf. (Reading is fun!)

They say that once you study medicine, you have to sacrifice and give up the other things which you used to do. But I dare say that it's just a matter of time management. Or more appropriately, self-management, because we cannot really manage time; we can only manage ourselves in relation to time. 

Yes, there would be some changes in schedule and priorities, but it doesn't mean we have to dump our old lives. I can't imagine my life without a hobby. There's no reason why should I stop pursuing my interests. They help me to de-stress and cope with the rigors of med school. They're part of me. And they make me happy. 

I don't mean to say that studying doesn't make me happy. Learning does make me happy, of course! What I would like to point out is that we can have a life outside med school.

Don't abandon your hobbies. If you don't have a hobby, find one that you like and be happy. Get a life! Be reminded that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." 

As much as I would like to write more, I have to get back to my review and prepare myself for the next intellectual battles ahead.

And you, what are your hobbies which make you happy?