What's a hobby?

Whenever asked about what my hobbies are, I tend to ramble off the various groups that I'm involved in outside of work and school. When I was asked to blog about my hobbies I decided to look up the definition of hobby just to see how my hobbies fell in to the common thought. According to Merriam-Webster.com, a hobby is "a small Old World falcon (Falco subbuteo) that is dark blue above and white below with dark streaking on the breast." That's definition one? Really? I hope I have not been answering people's questions completely off kilter and was really supposed to be favoring a certain falcon. I moved on to the more sensible definition number two, "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation." Ok, that's more like it, perhaps, in my mind, I have the definition correct, though the last word may be the key to why I get so many weird looks.

To me, my hobbies are relaxing. Don't get me wrong, they can be stressful and painful and completely uplifting or completely heartbreaking, but I love the things I do. My main hobby is running obstacle course races and playing a role as an ambassador to the biggest team in New England, the New England Spahtens (nepahtens.com), both of which I have been involved with since 2012. This, of course, comes with a fair amount of training, including lots of hiking with my family, and a few road races in between so those would automatically be included in my hobbies. 
Another hobby of mine is being involved with veteran support groups. I am very involved in a group called Carry the Fallen, a subgroup of Active Heros that helps bring awareness to veteran suicide and bringing the number of suicides from 22 a day to 0. With Carry the Fallen, we ruck with vets and civilians, twice I have done the Boston Marathon 26.2 mile route with a 40 pound rucksack. I also go to events with Team Red, White and Blue, which group's focus is actually what I plan on doing with my degrees, improving vet's mental wellness through physical activity. With this group we do races, family events, and other gym events.

Warriors!!
Posted by Sarah Anne Arsenault on Saturday, March 21, 2015

Maybe my hobbies are broad, but it is just what I like to do with my free time. I try not to have free time, actually! I'd rather fill every moment with lots of good things that fulfill my life, my kids, and others. We only have one life to live, I'm going to absolutely make the most of it!