Managing passions – is it possible to serve more than one hobby master?

Here at Headfudge we’re super keen to promote an outdoors lifestyle and get you off the sofa, into the wide blue yonder and being active – even if only walking. But what about if you’re already a convert? What if you’re as passionate as can be about your chosen discipline but have another (or maybe multiple) in the mix? In today’s hectic world of work and family commitments can we suitably manage passions and serve multiple hobby masters?

Well, can we?

It ultimately depends on what your chosen pastimes are. Take cycling and footy for instance. Jumping on your bike is possible almost any time of day. Chances are football on the other hand falls at certain times of the week – quite possibly mid-week nights and weekends – but is pretty easy to schedule in. This scenario is therefore simple as neither is particularly dictated to by Mother Nature’s moods.

Now flip things on their head and chuck surfing and windsurfing in the melting pot (both Headfudge faves). With both disciplines riders are at the mercy of weather gods. For sure, a decent surfing session is devoid of wind. Ramp up the breeze and it’s time to bust out your sails. In theory this should be simple to manage – right? No wind? Surf! No surf? Windsurf. Wind and waves? Windsurf. You get the idea.

Weather in the UK isn’t as cut and dry as wind or not, wavey or not though. There are multiple factors at play – swell direction, wind angle, tide and such (we’ll not get bogged down with the detail here). Suffice to say juggling the two sports is tricky to say the least – head scratching abound and endless pouring over forecasts.

Add in a person’s chosen location of residence, such as inland, and green lights for sessions are calls made only after interpreting weather predictions. Even though you can get it wrong, as weather isn’t exactly an entity that likes to play ball. It’s no wonder why somebody into surfing and windsurfing will have become an amateur meteorologist over time – some cases he’she might know more than the weather bods themselves.

When the stars align, however, and the elements come together to deliver a great day on the water, for either sport, everything becomes right with the world and that feeling of contentment (stoke) is tangible. It’s what keeps some of us coming back for more, even with the hassle of trying to plan and organise lives around this kind of thing.

You can see why many, who may have previously been addicted to such sports, choose a different path and go with hobbies that don’t require as much effort – such as cycling and footy mentioned before.

Sports that rely on the elements are frustrating at times, there’s no doubt. But if you have the commitment, passion, stamina and drive to make it work then there’s certainly no reason why being a slave to more than one master can’t work. And if this isn’t for you then no problems. Go with activities that don’t rely on Mother Nature’s moods, but go with something. After all, we’ve said it in previous articles, getting out there and doing ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ is should be the most important thing.