The start of every year always feels like the opening of a new chapter, but no other year has felt quite like a much-needed new beginning more than 2021. While there’s no promise that the pandemic, recession, and everything in between will end when January 2021 rolls around, there’s still nothing wrong with creating resolutions that can benefit you in more ways than one. If you’re thinking about starting a new hobby, here is a list of activities that can benefit your mind, safety, body, and even your finances.
Fly-fishing
Fly-fishing is a sport that has seen significant growth in the past few years, thanks to movies like A River Runs Through It and Where the Yellowstone Goes. But more than the idyllic scenario these movies present, fly-fishing presents many benefits:
- It’s a great pandemic sport. It naturally allows for proper physical distance between people, and you don’t need a lot of face-to-face interaction to do it. Fly-fishers are recommended to keep a distance of 75-100 feet away from each other—far beyond the recommended six feet distance.
- It’s a relatively affordable activity. You only need an entry-level box kit, which includes the reel, rod, and line, and can cost more or less than $200. There are permit fees, which vary from state-to-state, but a rough cost is $50.
- You can consume and sell your catch. Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 crisis presented new challenges regarding seeking fresh foods and produce, so fly-fishing can be a meaningful way to add to your pantry.
- It’s good for one’s mental health. A study by the Harvard Medical School found that fly-fishing is a great way to calm one’s nerves and an excellent way to start meditating and empty one’s mind.
Self-defense classes
If you live alone, taking self-defense classes may be a good way to feel a bit safer and secure in your home, especially at a time when you’re spending the majority of your day inside. A study found that undergoing self-defense training positively affects people—particularly women—in their everyday lives. These positive effects can contribute greatly to the reduction of women’s risk of being assaulted. Those who have taken up self-defense classes have also reported feeling much more comfortable interacting with acquaintances, strangers, and even people they’re intimate with.
Other benefits include seeing their bodies in a more positive light, having more confidence in themselves, and a transformed view of men, women, and gender in general. The author of the study also suggested that self-defense training can be life-transforming in that they address issues that are paramount to women, which are the self, sexual assault, and gender.
Baseball
If you’re training to improve your pitch, there is an investment that can help you measure your growth. A Stalker radar gun can do more than detect how fast a vehicle can go; it can also detect the speed of smaller items like a baseball. While laws vary from state to state, there is no federal law that prohibits radar detector ownership. Here are the benefits of owning one:
- If you own a vehicle and like to drive but want to save as much money as you can, a radar detector is a must-have investment. It’s a device that can go hand-in-hand with your dash camera—they will help protect you and your car because it’s able to warn you both visually and audibly of radar waves of police cars around you so that you can slow down within the proper speed limit in the right time. This device can help you save a significant amount of money on speed tickets.
- If you’re into baseball, a radar detector can help you track your pitching progress. It’s a crucial investment for measuring your pitch’s speed and knowing if your training and hard work have been paying off.
Knitting
Knitting is one of those hobbies that can provide mental, physical, emotional, and even financial benefits for those who try it. Some of these benefits include:
- Stress reduction because doing needlework can help induce a state of relaxation and calm.
- Better dexterity—many knitters have reported being able to keep arthritis at bay due to knitting.
- Knitting is good for our emotional quotient because it improves our patience and perseverance.
- When we’re at the skill level when we can produce quality knitted items, we can also sell them, helping us make money out of something we enjoy.
2021 will be a brand-new start, and even though our problems may not necessarily go away just because 2020 is ending, it doesn’t mean we can’t find new hobbies and activities that may be beneficial for us. So think of healthy ways to spend your free time next year—and allow those new pastimes to benefit you beyond mere enjoyment.
