6 Habits for Maintaining a Healthy Rhythm of Life
Anyone can get thrown off a good rhythm to life. When we get in to a set cadence, life runs smoothly at a pace we can manage. However, a crisis can stop us in our tracks.
Or, frantically trying to keep up with every aspect of our lives may cause us to go at a dizzying speed to a point where we cannot keep up with any aspect of our lives.
The statistics are clear. Many face mental health challenges or know someone who does. Stress about kids. Aging parents. Conflict in relationships. No one is immune from emotional or relational challenges.
Any change and challenge can throw us off our rhythm. Any threat to well-being or balance in any one of these aspects of our lives can disrupt our rhythm, the flow of life:
- Work
- Relationships
- Thoughts
- Spirituality
- Physical health
- Emotions
There are six habits that can help us navigate life in a healthy rhythm at a healthy pace. These habits can help us navigate through life even when we have to step it up, or when a challenge does slow us down. Even though demands for our attention and problem-solving ebb and flow, these habits can keep us on the right track.
six habits that can help us navigate life:
- Balance life and work
- Audit your thought-life for irrational thinking and think thoughts of gratitude and happiness
- Take time to reflect on and share emotions
- Eat well, exercise, and get good sleep
- Give and receive quality attention to and from your friends and family
- Take time for your spirituality and faith
Honesty with ourselves, openness to change, and patience help us to be healthy with ourselves and with others. Sometimes the causes of the disruption in our life-rhythm are deeper, cumulative, and longer term. There is always time to re-set, re-calibrate, pause, and think about how we want to live.
When problems persist over time and are intense enough to impact our daily functioning, counseling may be beneficial. When we experience depression, anxiety, or another mental illness, we must be open to seeing a counselor just as we must be open to seeing a physician when we are physically sick. Mental health is just as crucial as physical health.
Mental health has many layers that include mind, body, and spirit. What can you do today to be grateful, to enjoy the moment, and to ensure you’re going at a pace at which you can reach your potential and find meaning, purpose, and contentment?