Blog summary #3

Over the past 12 weeks I have learned that leisure plays a big part in every individual’s life. The reason for my bold statement is because, we as humans need that outlet, we need to be able to somewhat vent after being bombarded with stressful situations. A prime example of stressful situations is what will happen in the next two weeks, thousands of us will be forcing ourselves to stay awake studying for finals and crying over work we should have kept up with during the course of the semester. In order for us to regain sanity for the holidays, we as human beings will have to experience some type of optimal arousal in order to release the stress hormones which will be inflicted upon us in the next 14 days. Now as I have learned throughout my 12 weeks I know that leisure can be experienced at anytime and anyplace, because there is no such thing as time when it comes to leisure, but I strongly believe that it will be hard to experience substantial amounts of it when we have finals on the brain. But once our constraints have been removed our freedom to leisure more expressively will be available. Although there can be individuals who may view this final period as leisurely, because all their hard work and determination will finally be put to the test and their confidence of their outcomes may override the fact that they have to stock themselves up on caffeine. I have learned that being leisure educated can be fun regardless of how challenging an activity may be. When I did gymnastics for the first time, it was indeed tough, but I was very anxious to learn what I needed to do, to better myself and to perform at the skill level that I am capable of. I have always taught individuals how to perform certain exercises in the gym because of my training background, and because of this class I can therefore classify myself as a leisure educator. Because for those who enjoy exercising my tips help them, and later on intrinsically motivates them to come back because of the results they have created. Extrinsic factors can also be a factor because they may be doing it to impress friends or to attract the opposite sex. Over the course of the semester I have learned great values of leisure and will continue to leisure educate those in the workout world, because of my job title. And to add insult to injury because of Mr. Henle I will now be able to pronounce the proper way to annunciate Csikszenmihayi lol.

Flag!!

Finally I got to play some football indoors yesterday, although it was flag and not tackle it was still very rewarding. I use to be a member of the Stingers football team, but I didn't agree with the head coaches game playing philosophy so I left, and this year was the first year in 14 years that I hadn't strapped on the pads. so after having just a slight taste of football again it was extremely rewarding. I will be playing in a flag league which will take place in the beginning of January for 8-10 weeks. but like I said as I was on that field my instinc's to tackle had to be tamed because of the flag concept. but regardless of whether it tackle or flag, the rules may not be the same, but the drive remains the same.. I LOVE FOOTBALL

Gymnastic Jungle

so this was my first time ever doing gymnastics, quite an experience. its challenging in a way that while performing some of the exercises, diffrent muscles must be used at diffrent times. Before I engaged in it I thought for sure having a weightlifting background, that this would be easy, but it was somewhat of a challenge, and thats what made it that more enjoyable for me.

Oh...Titans?

In my previous blog I spoke about the mishaps and trials of the Cincinati Bengals, who still have not won a game since then, sadly 0-8. but their is light at the other end of the tunnel, for a surprisingly once outnumbered team. the Tennessee Titans at a stunning 7-0. Now am not only stunned because of their record, what gets me is their quarterback. Kerri Collins. he has performed on so many other teams at a below average rating, and now he's like a new man. self-determination at its best right there. he is finaly taking control and using his veteran status to do so. they defeated the 2 yr ago superbowl champs in an arial attack that would have made any true NFL fan shocked. those powder blues were never my favorite team but kudose to them.

Blog Summary 2

I have been able to appreciate leisure better than at the begining of this term, because I can now accept the idea that leisure has no time frame. Leisure can be experienced at ones occupational location, or at anytime of the day. I have learned that leisure is what one makes it, and not what one activity is suppose to bring you. I have also grasps the concept of how constraints may play a role in one's leisure lifestyle. their are many barriers that have held me back from enjoying various activities outside. a walk in the park with my significant other was an activity that I enjoyed a couple of months ago, but because of the change in weather, the barrier of the cold and sometimes gusty winds acts as a structural contraint towards my intrinsicly motivated activity. Self-determination has been one of the many reasons why I am progressing positively this semester. I have been taking control of my leisure time to concentrate on studying, though it is extrinsicly motivating, it is self gratifying when I get that mark that I was aiming for. with the skills that I have developed from this course, i plan to leisure educate those that are close to me in life such as my family and friends, so that they can better understand and appreciate what a healthy leisure lifestyle consists of.

Oh!! Bengals!!

The Cincinati Bengals of the NFL cannot catch a break. One fo the greates receivers in the league has been shut down and his team has been blanked, 0 and 6 ouch! can it get any worse than that. 2 years ago they were playoff contenders now there lucky if they even win a game. I feel for these guys, really wathching during my leasurly time just seems like a waste of time, but I will hang in there, I think they will eventually win one game. finger crossed.

hearbreaker

though the Dallas Cowboys are

BRR!!

Its that time of the year again, when the cold hits and the fall jackets come out. It feels like such a rude awakening. I mean I knew we were gonna get some cold but golly its freezing, to me at least. I already miss the beautiful, limited sunshine we had this summer ahhh. Not to mention the constraints on activities to be perf0rmed because of this icyness. once your running around it feels fine but still its just not the same. I guess itll only go downhill from here..I cant wait for these eight months to pass.

Blog Summary

Throughout my blogs I realized in the first couple, I was categorizing my leisure activities according to time, and we all know that leisure has no time boundaries. We could experience leisure at work, even if we didn't plan on it, therefore I have learned and will apply these terms to my upcoming blogs. I have also just begun to grasp the concept of flow and how it should be used or what context it should be referred in. In one of my blogs I mention that I experience it more or less every time I work out, without my new gained knowledge I would not have been able to use this term properly in a contextual sentence.

As I am here sitting writing this blog summary in a second cup near my house, I would perceive this as "circumstantial freedom" because I do have the freedom to complete this assignment and the freedom to not, and I am choosing to complete it because it was assigned to me, as well as it will help me develop and define my skills. It is therefore extrinsically motivating, because my drive and determination, is based on an outside influence which will determine my grade upon completion of this summary.

Throughout my blogs I have never experienced any symptoms of boredom. according to Iso-Ahola and Weissinger, if an individual does not recognize that leisure can take place from a psychological point of view, then they are experiencing "boredom".  In my 5th blog I stated that I watched a movie which was not my direct preference but I still enjoyed it. If i was not able to experience leisure through a psychological stand, then I would have been bored because of the lack of physical activity and because of lack of movie preference but because of the the story and its stimulating effect, it was able to grasp my attention. The link that I am trying to make is that I was able to experience leisure in a surrounding where it would seem utterly impossible, but because I viewed this film as leisure I was unable to reach a level of boredom. In many aspects it could be seen that I experienced adherence, because I was experiencing flow during the "chick flick" when most men would probably experience a sense of boredom.

Body works

The gym is truly my second home. The atmosphere, the people and the heavy weights, just doesn't get any better than that. I am intrinsically motivated when it comes to lifting. It is a leisurely activity that I cannot get enough of. I have achieved a sense of internal competence throughout my years of lifting because of the satisfaction which i have received by doing it. I often achieve optimal arousal while performing my demanding tasks at the gym. It is very rare that I experience boredom in my domain, but there have been times when I have experienced anxiety but for the most part, flow is always achieved when I am hard at work, in my second home

The women

This past weekend, me and my lady went to see a movie, now it wasn't my average action shoot em' up type flick. am sure I speak for every guy who has a girlfriend when i say we all have to make compromises to certain movies sometimes. My compromise, was the movie tiltled "The Women". Yup, it was a bonified "chick flick", but hey sometimes you have to give in. As for the reviews, let me just say in that 2hours and like 15minute there was literally not one guy in the actual film. I have never seen a movie with just one gender throughout the alloted time, i was pretty impressed actually. It wasn't a bad flick either, I probably wouldn't go see it with a bunch of my buddies, or even rent it for myself, but watching it with my lady and keeping an open mind, made it somewhat enjoyable.

Accomplishment

I am happy to say that this past weekend was an accomplishment. everything went perfectly planned for my girlfriends birthday, we laughed, we cried, and we were merry... well know one cried but we all had a good time. we had a friendly game of bowling which lasted till about 2 am, starting at 11pm, it was definatly good times

good times

ahh!! its minutes to 6 and that makes me happy, because I will be a free man from this non leisurly activity called work. have dinner reservations tonight with my girlfriend tonight for her birthday, so you could imagine that i am smiling from ear to ear. and then we will participate in a friendly match of bowling...and yes i did say bowling..i mean its fun with a little competion of course lol..its gonna be good times cant wait :)

MNF

WOW! what an intense game this last monday nighter was, (football) it was the Philadelphia Eagles vs the Dallas Cowboys. I enjoyed the game at a downtown bar called sports station at the corner of Fort and St Catherine.. they've got about a million T.V.'s and the sound system is awesome!!. It was a scoring battle which almost made history for first half points combined in a single Monday night game. the outcome was the Dallas Cowboys coming out on top at 41-37, but it was definatly one of the best monday night games i have seen in a while..and a great Leisurely activity :)

working it!!

I must admit, i am a gym rat, i live, eat, and sleep the gym lol..it helps me realease stress, and gives me a sense of satisfaction.