Think for a moment about the last time you were having a more difficult day.
Everyone and everything around you just seemed to frustrate the heck out of you.
Take a moment to think about what might have been going on with you that day. Were you tired? Were you sick? Maybe something was weighing heavily on your mind?
Most likely, you were experiencing less than optimal physical or mental health that day, or both.
Those days when everything seems to be weighing down on us, those are the days we are mostly likely going to have more difficulty managing ourselves and our emotions. Those are the days we are more likely to be reactive to others around us, instead of being in command of ourselves, and how we respond to people and situations.
Now think about a day recently when you felt really good about things. You were feeling confident in your work, feeling good about your relationships, and were overall happy about the way your life was going. You were also, most likely, feeling physically good in your body and your mind.
It is not always easy to connect the importance of how we care for our body and minds, to our overall success. We get caught up in the more direct activities of managing our daily lives.
Wake up.
Make breakfast and pack lunches.
Shower and get dressed.
Drive to office.
Check email.
Do the work.
And so on…
These are actions that have a clear and direct result of accomplishing the exact tasks needed to be an adult and hold down a job.
When our days are so full of just the bare minimum tasks required of being an adult, and we forego the things that are necessary to keep our body and minds healthy, we begin to have more of those days where everything around us seems to be more difficult, more stressful, and we react accordingly.
Remember that day when you felt good? You were feeling confident, tasks were simple, and creativity and ideas seemed to just flow? Meetings with clients went well? And you enjoyed talking with your family? These are the results of you feeling good in your body and in your mind. This is what is possible when you treat your body and mind as an investment in your success.
Our performance day to day in all areas of our lives is directly related to how we are feeling. That meeting with your boss, or client, will be impacted if you are exhausted. How you respond to that difficult moment with your child, spouse, or parent, will be influenced by the amount of stress you are feeling. Your ability to safely drive yourself and your family from point A to point B can be impacted by your tension and stress. These connections are real, and cannot be ignored or taken for granted.
Knowing the importance of caring for ourselves is the first step, but how do you take real action and progress with making things like sleep, physical activity, yoga, meditation, or journaling, a part of our jam packed daily life? What if the feeling of being stuck in the same cycle seems to be your inevitable fate?
I promise you it is not.
You are full of limitless potential.
You just have to get reconnected to that potential.
More to come next week on this journey!
Have a healthy & mindful week!
Peace
Amy