5 Key Benefits of Leisure and Their Feasibility in Modern Society - Coursework Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Leisure Concepts-Major Essay Course: 5 Key benefits of Leisure and their feasibility in the modern society The industrial revolution made people to be engraved in work and machine development to the extent of being overwhelmed by work pressure. Fatigue, boredom, and stress ensued. Leisure was a wonderful discovery since it helped man to cope with the stress in life and develop new interventions of solving his problems. Exclusive work without stint of leisure leads to fall in productivity, accidents occurring, fatigue, and reduction in motivation, suffering of family, breakdown of mental and physical health. The events leading to industrial revolution led to development of leisure. Physical fatigue from work calls for leisure activities intervention. Leisure has important benefits that cannot be ignored in the modern world. The feasibility of these benefits determines whether the leisure activity engaged in will bring about the sought after satisfaction. Some of the benefit of leisure includes spiritual health benefit, psychological health benefit, economic health benefit, social health benefit, and physical health benefit (Dare, Welton & Coe, 2008). Considering these benefits, it can be authoritatively asserted that leisure leads to the general wellbeing of an individual. This paper explores the benefits of leisure and their feasibility in the modern times. Feasibility of the benefits of leisure explains whether they can be achieved or not. Leisure has various benefits which include physical health, social health, economic health, psychological health, and spiritual health. All these aspects are important to an individual and the society as a whole. Physical health is important for the growth of the society and the physical fitness of a person. Leisure correlates closely to physical activity. High degree of activity leads to health outcomes that are improved. Leisure activities such as swimming, cycling, ice-skating, mountain climbing, running, and playing or any form of sport increases the physical activity of body parts that result into healthier human beings. Physical activities improve blood circulation and active metabolism within the body and hence people are strong more resilient to physical attacks like diseases. Williams & Buswell (2003) suggest that obesity epidemic that is being witnessed in Australia and other countries in the world can be overcome if children are encouraged to take part in active outdoor activities rather than passive leisure like watching movies. Quality of life is improved through leisure activities. Outdoor leisure activities improve the physical health of a person and ensure emotional stability. Leisure is important in the modern society for mental and physical health. After work leisure participation helps a person to refresh his or her mind. Social health is enhanced through participation in leisure. Leisure activities involve social interactions. Without social interaction it is not easy to achieve successful leisure activities. Leisure cannot be carried out in isolation. Social interaction is enhanced through leisure participation (Veal, 2010). Sporting clubs and social clubs are a good example where leisure has to take place in social context. Sports are most effective to social interaction. Leisure is acceptable as a social institution. People gather together to take part in leisure activities such as playing football, tennis, rugby, chess, or gambling. Leisure activities occur mostly in social context. Watching television and other passive leisure activities are the ones that take place indoors. Social interaction improves life and the feeling about oneself. Leisure participation benefits the wider community through reduction of isolation and alienation. Social misfits and psychopaths who thrive very well in desolation find it hard to harbor their bizarre thoughts when a community embraces leisure passionately and collectively. Isolated individuals will be easily spotted and helped out of their cocoon that makes them cause harm to their fellow human beings. Sporting activity have encouraged courtship and dating which leads to marriage and consequently continuation of a lineage. Edginton (2003) reiterates that the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs of love and belonging are satisfied through participation in social events that comprises of leisure activities. Friendship, family and sexual intimacy are enhanced through leisure participation. Many people found their spouses when engaging in leisure activities after work. During leisure the mind is relaxed and an individual can think about loving another person (McLean & Hurd, 2011). Many of the needs discussed by Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of needs are met through leisure participation. Couples bond more when they participate in similar leisure activities like swimming, cycling, jogging, or sightseeing. The economic health of any society is greatly influenced by leisure participation. The direct result of leisure is consumption. During leisure time people consume resources that cost money. Leisure activities contribute to enhance Consumerism. A huge amount of money is spent on leisure activities globally. Close to $14,000 billion is spent annual on leisure events (Cameron, 2012). Consequently leisure is important to the national economy since it has led to job creation and employment of many people. Gym instructors, employees at sporting clubs, coaches, dancing classes, and waitress at an entertainment joint all benefit from an income owing to people engaging in leisure activities. Consumption of alcohol and other energy giving drinks is increased as people take part in leisure activities (Leitner & Leitner, 2004). Both the public and private sector have experienced development due to engagement in leisure activities. Leisure activities that are profitable include tourism, fitness industry, tour operators, nightclubs, and gambling venues. A lot of money is consumed in nightclubs particular on weekends, and gambling involves huge amount of money. Although sports clubs are not for profit making they ensure members pay subscriptions to sustain the club. There are many people who are employed to facilitate the running of the club. Veal (2010) is of the view that employment creation through leisure activities leads to improved living standards as people find a way of making income and hence meets their daily needs with ease. Creative and artistic activity can be viewed as a form of continuity with traditional culture like singing, making music, and dancing. All these activities have their roots in the ancient times. In the modern times, Aboriginal art is one of the unique forms of cultural products that received recognition allover the world as being uniquely Australian. Game playing was part of traditional Aboriginal culture (Lynch & Veal, 2006). Certain game playing is very functional in traditional communities like practicing and leaning of technical and social skill while others are meant for fun. Many leisure activities have their origin in traditional societies. Psychological health is greatly boosted through participation in leisure. An individual psychological need is met through participation in leisure activities. Need for affiliation and recognition can only be met through participation in leisure activities. Self actualization and self esteem are encouraged through participation in leisure activities. Mental health is greatly influenced positively through engagement in leisure. Stressful life incidences induce mental and physical illnesses. Nevertheless, this effect has been demonstrated to be overcome by many processes of coping which include leisure participation (Zuzanek & Mannell, 1998). Participating in leisure activities assist in coping with life stress in a number of ways. Firstly, one of the most efficient sources of relief from life stress has been established to be the perception that social support is readily available. Leisure is social in nature and chats the way for friendship development. Companionship that is available in leisure activity that is shared seems to offer effective relief for people as they deal with impact of daily life stresses. Besides, many experiences of leisure have the capacity to offer feelings of support. According to Jenkins & Pigram (2003), dispositions with an element of self determination have also been proved to coping capacities and health of people. Perceptions of control, freedom, intrinsic motivation and competence that are central to many leisure experiences are believed to be a reason for the stable beliefs in self-determination. Self-esteem that is improved has been cited as one of the key benefits of leisure participation. Dancing was established as a means of improving personal perception and self confidence. When people participate in leisure activities they find it easy to interact. In many cases, leisure behaviors are usually linked to personal image and perception. People identify themselves as being sporty or artistic or any other version that is appropriate. The self-feelings about one-self are enhanced through participation in leisure activities. The self-feeling include attainable self, ideal self, ought self, and undesired self. The undesired-self is what somebody dreads becoming like being an unemployed loser. Emanuelson (2012) argues that the attainable self is the realistic perception that someone has about himself. Someone can decide to try as much as possible to be forgiving. Ideal self is the idealized perception that an individual possesses. Ought self is what someone feels he should be. Self-concept is the thinking of people about themselves while on the other hand self-esteem relates to the manner of how people feel about themselves. Stebbins (2007) observes that whereas self-esteem is effective, self-concept is cognitive. These concepts are fostered through participation in leisure activities. Feelings of self-worthiness improve the mental health and physical health of a person. Recognition of a job well done makes one feel appreciated and motivated to do even better than before. Spiritual health is improved through participation in leisure. Evidence gathered show that leisure lifestyles have an impact on the spirituality, overall health and spiritual well being. Young, Chwell & Sheherbakova (2000) concur that the connection between spirituality and leisure has also received great social scientific attention. Spiritual wellbeing is recognized as a significant component of overall health basing on the holistic perception that health is multi-dimensional. Spiritual wellbeing and spirituality have been established to be vital in coping resources that do away with the adverse impact of stress on the physical or mental health of a person (Zueffle, 1999). Leisure’s Spiritual functions may possess some similarities to leisure stress coping strategies which assist people to effectively cope with stress. The protestant involvement in leisure activities shows the importance of leisure to the spiritual health of a human being. Public holidays such as Christmas, Halloween, and Easter are quickly becoming secularized although they had their origin from pagan festivals. These celebrations were normally Christian. Moberg (2002) explains that the connection between people and nature is greatly improved through participation in leisure activities like sightseeing, mountain climbing, ice-skating, and sunbathing. People take time to meditate and think about their creator during leisure activities. Freshness of the mind through leisure participation brings about fresh thoughts that improve an individual’s spirituality. The feasibility of benefits of leisure depends on the resources available and the preferences of the person involved. The benefits of leisure are feasible to achieve in the modern society. Despite the busy schedules that people have, benefits of leisure are achievable in today’s era so long as people are focused in setting aside time for leisure activities. People have to find their preferred leisure activities that they enjoy the most and engage in them at their appropriate time. Recreational centers and sports club have to be build at vintage points where they can be accessed by anybody who has right to use them. Leitner & Leitner (2004) asserts that Leisure activities that allow people to exploit their extra talent other than their profession have to be encouraged. Games and sports do not have to all be commercialized and set aside for special people in the society. The benefits of leisure are feasible in the modern times so long as their facilities and resources to make people to participate in leisure. Leisure participation should not be a luxury of a few people in the society. For all the benefits of leisure to be realized everyone should be encourage to set aside time for leisure participation. Working shifts in industries have to take into consideration that people have to engage in leisure activities. Leisure activities and their benefits are feasible when there is support and will to have everyone engage in them. The importance of leisure participation to the society gives enough reason why leisure has to be supported. With the right attitude and culture, the benefits of leisure are feasible in the modern times. References Cameron, S 2012, Handbook on the Economics of Leisure, Edward Elgar Publishing, Melbourne. Dare, B, Welton, G. & Coe, W 2008, Concepts of leisure in western thought: a critical and historical analysis, Kendall/Hunt, California. Edginton, C.R 2003, Leisure programming: service-centered and benefits approach, McGraw-Hill, Melbourne. Emanuelson, D 2012, Leisure Services Financial Management with Web Resource, Human Kinetics, New York. Jenkins, J. & Pigram, J 2003, Encyclopedia of Leisure and Outdoor Recreation, Routledge, New York. Leitner, M & Leitner, S 2004, Leisure Enhancement, Third Edition, Taylor & Francis, London. Lynch, R & Veal, AJ 2006, Australian Leisure, 3rd, Longman, Australia. McLean, D & Hurd, A 2011, Kraus' Recreation and Leisure in Modern Society, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, London. Moberg, DO 2002, Assessing and measuring spirituality: Confronting dilemmas of universal and particular evaluative criteria, Journal of Adult Development, 9 (1): 47-60. Stebbins, RA, 2007, Serious Leisure: A Perspective for Our Time, Transaction Publishers, New Jersey. Veal, J.L 2010, Leisure, Sport and Tourism: Politics, Policy and Planning, CABI, New Mexico. Williams, C & Buswell, J 2003, Service Quality in Leisure and Tourism, CABI, Cambridge. Young, J.S., Chwell, CS, & Sheherbakova, R 2000, The moderating relationship of spirituality on negative life events and psychological adjustment, Counseling and Values, 45 (1): 49-57. Zueffle, DM 1999, Research update: The spirituality of recreation, Parks and Recreation, 34 (5): 31-44. Zuzanek, J. & Mannell, R 1998, Life-cycle squeeze, time pressure, daily stress, and leisure participation: A Canadian perspective, Society and Leisure, 21 (2): 513-544. Read More