What is leisure?

What Does leisure Mean

The leisure is the time of a person. It is about the cessation of work or the total omission of the compulsory activity.

Leisure could be defined as recreation time that an individual can organize and use according to their own will. This not only excludes work obligations, but also the time invested for the satisfaction of basic needs such as eating or sleeping.
The most common use of the concept is linked to rest from work . Leisure, therefore, appears outside working hours or during the vacation period and it is important not to confuse it with absolute inactivity or boredom; In this regard, the healthiest option is to take advantage of those hours to satisfy the intellectual needs related to the vocation, or for contact with nature and the practice of some sport.

Keep in mind that the same activity can be considered mandatory for some and idle for others. For example, cooking can be the fundamental task of a chef who works as such, but also the pleasure of a lover of good food, who spends his free time creating and discovering recipes. It should be noted that the mandatory nature does not indicate that there is a greater degree of knowledge, skill or responsibility, since this depends, in part, on the passion and commitment of each person.
Historically, leisure has been seen as a luxury of aristocrats, since the rest of the people had to work long hours to ensure their subsistence. Over time, life for the middle class has become less harsh; Currently, the crisis is not enough of a reason not to have hours and days off, at least for single people who only have to support themselves.
It is known that leisure is necessary to obtain a better performance , both physical and mental, in our work activity. Whatever our occupation, it is always advisable to respect free time, look for it and treasure it , to recover the energy that we have deposited in our obligations and to be able to return to them efficiently and with a clear mind. Disregarding rest is a habit of many older people, who bring with them an outdated view of work, responsibility and morals .
Just as leisure is not considered a waste of time , but a period of recreation, work should not be seen simply as an activity, but as a tool to modify the material and mental world through effort. This is the result of various sociological studies that, in turn, distinguish work from leisure due to the recreational nature of the latter; In short, the difference between the two concepts lies in the understanding that each one has of the term recreation .

Finally, it is curious to note that leisure has become a colossal industry that , at the same time, offers jobs to a growing number of people. We live in an age when most of us can indulge ourselves that, just a couple of decades ago, were reserved for the wealthy . The tourism industry and international flights have seen growth, especially as more and more people are able to access them; The same is true for mobile phones and laptops, which are available 'free of charge' after signing a contract.
The life now encourages idleness. We are constantly bombarded by offers of products and services that, they try to make us believe, we cannot refuse; if we do, we will be out of society. Many say that generation after generation the interest in academic training diminishes, as well as the sense of responsibility; The ease with which we access entertainment today may be related: a portable device with a persistent Internet connection cannot be blamed for our lack of concentration when studying, but its negative contribution cannot be denied in this context. .

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