When Your Hobby Stops Feeling Fun

There was a moment a few weeks ago when I convinced myself that I'd fallen out of love with gardening.

The funny part?

About a week before that, I remember thinking, "Dang... if only I could fall in love with a job the way I've fallen in love with gardening."

It's amazing how quickly our minds can change the story.

Nothing had changed in the garden.

Something had changed in me.

I looked outside and instead of feeling excited, I felt... like it was chore time.

I started wondering if maybe I'd already moved on like I tend to do when I get bored. I find something new, pour all my time and energy into it, and then quit when the dopamine hits aren't hitting quite as hard anymore.

Maybe gardening had just been another one of my phases.

I almost believed it.

Then I found myself back in the garden doing garden things. Weeding. Watering. Harvesting. You know... the never-ending list of things that always needs to be done.

And all I could think was, I don't want to.

About an hour later, I was standing in a puddle, a little lightheaded from standing up too fast, hose still in my hand. I looked around at everything I'd been growing and realized something.

This really is my happy place.

I hadn't fallen out of love with gardening.

I had simply remembered why I fell in love with it in the first place.

The solitude of a foggy morning. An Alani in hand. The sounds of the world waking up around me. The flowers I've nurtured finally blooming beside vegetables that will soon end up on my dinner table.

It's all incredibly rewarding... if I slow down long enough to notice it.

That realization made me wonder how often we do this in other parts of our lives.

How often do we assume we've lost our passion?

Mistake comfort for boredom in our marriage?

Convince ourselves we've picked the wrong career... again?

Decide we're not creative anymore?

Or give up on something we've loved because our feelings changed for a moment in time?

Now, to be fair, sometimes those feelings really have changed.

But that's a blog for another day.

Sometimes...

You're just tired.

Stressed.

Overwhelmed.

Hormonal.

Grieving.

Burned out.

Shall I keep going, or do you get the gist?

It hit me in that moment.

How many times have I mistaken exhaustion for disinterest?

How many times have I assumed I'd fallen out of love with something when really... I was just running on empty?

How many hobbies have we abandoned because we caught them on a bad day?

How many relationships have we questioned because life got heavy?

How many dreams have we convinced ourselves weren't meant for us because we were burned out instead of finished?

Before you decide you've fallen out of love with something, ask yourself one question:

Has the thing changed... or has my capacity changed?

Because sometimes the answer really is that it's time to move on.

But other times?

You just need a nap.

A slower week.

A little grace.

And maybe...

An hour in the garden.

Sometimes the best thing you can do isn't to quit. It's to come back tomorrow.