What Do You Like To Do?

My friend Emily bought her husband The Art of Mingling for his birthday last year, and before she gave it to him, I got a kick out of flipping through this little book. It only took two pages for me to realize that apparently I mingle all wrong. The first two tips were: 1) Don’t ask people what they do for a living (they may not have a job, and you risk offending them) and 2) Give a closed mouth smile (no smile suggests you are unfriendly, and a big, toothy grin says you are weird and overeager). Because I love meeting new people, I usually give a great big smile, and my fall back, ice breaker question is ALWAYS, “So, what do you do?” As I said, I stink at mingling.

However, I have found that people I meet are not always the best at mingling either. One question I absolutely HATE is “What do you like to do?” I feel like people ask this either because it is their fall back question (like my “What do you do for a living?”) or because they think I’m incredibly boring, and they are trying to figure out if there is anything remotely interesting about me. Maybe I’m just insecure. But seriously, how do you answer that question? I feel like I need to come up with a super intriguing hobby, so when someone springs this mingling tactic on me, I’ll be ready with a quick, “Well, I’m so glad you asked. I just love to sky dive, go belly dancing, run through sprinklers in other people’s yards, and oh yeah, I also like to rescue lost puppies.”

Instead, I usually stammer and stutter before coming up with something evasive like, “Oh, I enjoy doing lots of things. What do you like to do?” This morning, while I was walking, I tried to brainstorm possible answers to this question, so I could be prepared for my next mingling experience. Do you know I couldn’t come up with anything?? At least not a hard, fast, interesting answer to this question.

I do like a lot of things. In fact, I like my life, and I enjoy most everything I do – with the possible exception of cleaning my toilet. Seriously, though, when I began to think of all the things I like to do, the list was quite long. I like to sit on my porch in the evening with a tall glass of tea and a good book; I like to dance when no one is watching; I like to go to the beach in the summer. I like to call my dad early on Fridays and banter with him; I like the thirty minute phone conversations I have with my mom about nothing; I like having dinner with my brothers. I like going to Thursday night Bible Study; I like talking to Jesus from 6:00-6:30 every morning; I like teaching (most days!). I like taking naps, making hot chocolate, movie nights, date nights, bubble baths, singing in my car, eating pizza, going to the lake, and visiting friends. I like my life. I know these are not answers one expects when they ask me, “What do you like to do?” but they are my reality, and even though I don’t have any super interesting hobbies, I’m thankful for all the moments that make life special.