Living in Bozeman Montana we have an abundance of wonderful resources at our fingertips to get out and enjoy Mother Nature’s beauty. From the magnificent mountains, to the vibrant flowing rivers, the opportunity for hiking, biking, fishing, paddling, bird watching and many other recreational activities lay at our doorstep. How many of us live weekend to weekend waiting for that precious time that we call “our own” to put miles between work and the mundane routine tasks of daily life to get away from “it all”.

If you examine the word recreation you will see that at its root, is the word create. The word “create” means to develop something new, whether an object, idea, or movement, it is something that has not been before. Re-creation is the act of making anew. It had already previously been done but it is now time to spruce it up and do it again. Recreation is refreshment by means of a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment. In other words recreation should be about refreshing the body mind and spirit so we can regain or strength and purpose and be able to be more productive when we return to our vocations and family responsibilities.

In order to be healthy we need to eat well, move well, and think well. It is a very simple recipe but it can be challenging to succeed at. We can’t be just good at one area and ignore the other two. Sooner or later things will catch up with us. For example, you may be a star athlete, you train everyday and are dedicated to your sport, know everything about it inside and out, but you have a lousy diet because you don’t have time to cook. If you don’t feed your body the fuel it needs to keep up with the demands of your sport, sooner or later it breaks down and you get injured or sick and are sidelined from participating. I see this occur all too often in high school, college and competitive athletes who have defined themselves by their athletics and without their athletics they become “lost” not knowing where put their energies or what they want to do with their life. It is very sad to see and if they don’t get the right guidance often times those athletes will head down a dangerous road of substance abuse or self destructive activities trying to forget about their losses.

Life is a journey we all are making from birth to death, and along that journey we have the opportunities to make choices. One of our favorite choices we like to make is how we spend our free time. Stop for a moment and consider what free time really means. Free time is your time when you are not responsible for anyone other than yourself, and you can choose what you are going to do with it. I realize that some people have more free time than others but nonetheless what we do with our free time is our choice. Do you use your free time to exercise? Do you use your free time to read? Do you use your free time to travel around the country or the world? Do you use your free time to stay at home and explore the wonders in our backyard?

When we have our free time and choose to recreate maybe you should consider re-creation instead of recreation. Insanity as defined by Einstein is; “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Taking introspection of your life to see where you may need a little boost is a great way to start. Consider the three aspects of health; thinking well, moving well, and eating well. Consider which of those may be the area that could use a little work. If you think you could use a little help eating better consider taking a cooking class or pick up a book about different ethnic cuisines. Set a goal to cook a dinner from your new found favorite type of food one time a week. Invite your friends over to try it with you. Don’t worry if it bombs, your friends won’t hold it against you for trying, just have some burgers ready for back up. Maybe you need to get more exercise. Do you like seeing different animals or birds? Stop by the library and get a book on identification of different birds or animals and take a hike on one of the many trails right here in Bozeman. See what you can see, I bet you would surprise yourself.

There are so many ways that you can re-create your life and at the same time enrich your life and those around you. It does not take traveling half way around the world either, you can do it right here in our own town. Next time you have the opportunity for some recreation think re-creation. Ask yourself how you want to make your life better. Look at the three different aspects of health, thinking well, moving well, and eating well, and pick an area that you want to enhance. Once you pick something that you think you can improve upon decide how you will use your free time to explore that area. It might be easy, it might be hard, it might not be what you anticipated at all, or it may be the best thing you have ever done. What is important is you are trying new things and you are making your life more enriched, with re-creating while recreating.