Healthy living is what we all strive for but for many of us it is an item that we either hear about or see in a shopping window, something nice to have one day. In our first step towards living a better life lets all celebrate August together with great energy and excitement, for it is Wellness Month! So on that note Happy Wellness Month!! To show our true appreciate for our personal well-being lets all do more things, that make us feel healthier and be happier! Wellness needs to be a conversation that we are all having, a part of and adding to in order to improve our emotional state of mind. We have all heard the saying “health is wealth” and if we hold this to be truth how long will we continue to prioritize material success above our well-being. Without our health we are paralyzed and by reading this article it is my hope that you become an Ambassador of Mental Wellness. A healthy mindset is key to establishing a healthy lifestyle which will dramatically improve how you interact with everything in the world. We live in a fast pace world where busy is a badge of honor and being physically active is viewed as a luxury and not a necessity. We all will have our date with father time, today I ask you “how exquisite do you want this dance to be?” each day we are creating a piece of it. If we can each commit to focusing on doing the right things daily, we can all enjoy this dance and age like fine wine .
So today I ask you to be a part of the conversation of putting wellness front and center. Before I continue, I would like to provide you with a definition of wellness that will gives us all a greater context on what we are trying to accomplish here today. Wellness: the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, we’re thriving! This definition brings awareness to the important making the connection between being both physically and mentally active.
As human beings a large portion of our success is tied to our identities which is rooted in our physical and mental health. Unfortunately, since we cannot visually see our mental health many of us neglect and ignore this massive part of our being. In an effort to normalize and promote mental wellness I want to encourage you to engage in more discussions that connect to your emotions and your thoughts. Furthermore is request is not a passive ask, it is an aggressive ask to take this seriously!! It is instrumental for our mental development to be able to have these types of conversations consistently. At a basic level when I reference the term “physically fit”, I am referring to the discipline that is required to strengthen our bodies, muscles and tendons. To be physically strong is more than just looking and feeling great, this discipline impacts our moods, our conversations with self, others and it also helps to prevent illness and injuries. Too many of us take our physical health for granted and it massive ripple effect. Therefore it is fine time that we start to view our daily activities in connection to our best self. This simple activity can have an immense impact on your bodies and the life that you are creating for yourself.
Conversely, when I mention the term “mentally fit”, at a basic level I am referring to our ability to have healthy relationships with ourselves, others and to be a positive contributor to the world. Mental fitness impacts not only how we interact with the world but also how we view and process external events and messages. In the same way that every object can be viewed from a multitude of angles which paints a uniquely beautiful picture. We all must understand that we are experiencing and internalizing life from a very limited point of view. To be mentally fit is to be proactive in breaking down our external world in a constructive way that creates greater perspective, builds stronger character while raising our standards and thought processes.
We are all highly emotional and habitual creatures, based on this we must strive to create routines that will reduce some of our emotional decisions along our life long journey. When we are making many of our decisions on emotion this is an indicator that we are not in control of ourselves. That said we should all aim to go to bed excited about a vision of a healthier and brighter tomorrow and its endless possibilities to be better. This will help us to increase our level of commitment in order to weather the storm(s). In reading this article my goal is to raised your consciousness around wellness and the need to make this a part of our regular conversations. On that note I would like to leave you with 4 tips to not only get this conversation started but to sharpen your mental astuteness and to turn you into an active Ambassador of Mental Wellness.
4 Tips to Being Mentally Sharp:
1. Be Intentional: Our minds are absolutely brilliant and need to be pointed it in the right direction in order to perform well. Intentionality requires us to be more present, thoughtful and purposeful in using our minds. It is critical that we always remember that we are at our best when our thoughts and actions align. To be more successful in more areas of our lives we need to be mentally proactive in regards to the direction that we need to and need not go in. This includes the conversations that we need to be having with who. I say this to increase your awareness on how easy it is for us to end up on a different road than the one we intended to be on. This can happen especially when we are not completely committed to a specific outcome or expectation.
2. Increase your Positive Vibration: One indicator that allows us to know that we are learning and growing as people is our ability to challenge ourselves and to make changes. For example, being able to say “no” to our late night cravings, saying hi to more people on a regular basis or trying to do something new! We have to elevate our thinking and in doing so we can elevate our personal vibration. We all feed off of each others energy and it is important that we do an energy check regularly to ensure that we are giving off the right type of energy. When we can change our relationship(s) with how we see and interact with the world we create better overall experiences. There is a saying that says “short term losses for long term gains” or in other words, it is not about what you are giving up in the short term it is about what you will be getting in the medium to long-term.
3. Check-in with Yourself and Those Around You: It is absolutely critical to be able to acknowledge how you are feeling. It is said that if we can properly articulate how we are feeling you can drastically reduce your stress levels and begin to trace the path of your discomfort. Be sure to take the time to be more in-tune with yourself and those around you.
4. Create a Clean and friendly Environment Around Yourself: It is said that cleaning is therapeutic and there are many reasons for this finding. With a little bit of effort we are all able to see great results in a relative short period of time. As well cleaning helps to bring about a greater level of consciousness to our lives, the more conscious we are, the better of a job we tend to do. Furthermore, being in a clean environment can improve our thought process while helping to inspire new ideas. Be sure not to limit the amount of environments that you can clean/impact with your midas touch. Always remember we are all special and the simple things that we do can make a huge difference such as sharing a powerful quote or hearing words that bring warm thoughts to our hearts and minds.
By Christoff Kyere
