to death the important focuses for changing a life
for the better, what with the imposed importance of
a New Year being bandied about.
The results, as you might expect, are pretty much
consistent; five factors lead the list.
1) Your Physical health
2) Your Emotional health
3) Your Spiritual health
4) Your Social health
5) Your Mental health
What order their importance lies in is as individual as
what areas people decide to work on in their lives, if any.
1. The physical is obvious; eat better, move more, don't
allow stress and resentments a home, etc.
2. Emotional has to do not only with your insides, but who
and what you surround yourself with outside. Do you like
or trust or care for the kinds of people you're surrounded
by on a daily basis? And are their attitudes and interests
that which promote a healthy lifestyle?
3. Spiritual is not religion or anything pertaining to, although
for most it is limited to that. It's any belief system, values,
purpose, cause, or the like that gives meaning. A way of
being connected to something larger, outside yourself. Nature,
meditation, reading, hobbies, or whatever makes you happy.
4. Social can be tricky, since it is dependent on what is made
available to you either geographically, financially, etc.
You can meet and greet strangers, find like folks online,
visit nursing homes, or whatever brings you in touch with people.
The days of having a confidante or best bud to talk with at any
time about any subject seem to have fallen by the wayside...
so we manufacture replacements as best we can.
5. Keeping our minds sharp with puzzles, word games, new classes,
reading... testing ourselves with games (TV game shows, cross
word puzzles, Soduku, etc--not video games!) are all means
of keeping the tool sharpened. Dedicating yourself to learning--
and retaining even one small new thing each day--is a useful task.
But the significant factor is that it's all of these things in unison
that brings fulfillment and balance. Balance is an ever-sought,
imperfect goal, but it's worthwhile to seek it in some form.
We are the result of what we see, hear, think, do, and feel.
So what are you filling your mind with?
Who are you surrounding yourself with?
What is your time measured by?
Are you accomplishing what you want to, or catering to others?
Are your friends those who support you no matter what, or are
there strings attached?
Do you get unadulterated belief in your abilities, or are the people
in your life tearing you down and expecting little of you?
There's more than one kind of poison you can be filling your
body with; think long and hard about what you have in your
life this new year.
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