Wellness Wednesdays: Mind over Matter

A fundamental dimension of total wellness is Mental Wellness.  The maxim "the mind is a terrible thing to waste" remains true today.  How can we keep an even keel in a world that is as unpredictable as ours.  How do we resolve to maintain our sanity despite all the uncertainty that presents?  Today's Wellness Wednesday blog: Mind over Matter, will explore ways in which we can maintain equipoise in an unstable world.  Developing the mental prowess that is essential to navigating the challenging environment in which we exist is not optional if we intend on living a substantive, powerful and rewarding life.

Here are some tips to mind when life threatens to throw you off your bearing:

• Keep the end in mind.  Set goals for how you want to have your life turn out.  Do not be overcome with the present manifestation of apparent defeat or failure.
• Know that today's problem is just that- today's problem.  The future's outlook is vast and limitless.  In a sudden turn of events you will vaguely remember the sorrows you are now enduring.  Life presents cycles and seasons-this will not last. 
• Be open and honest with yourself.  Express disappointment, pain, fear etc.  Never repress emotions as they are as much a part of you as a hand or nose.  Neglecting to accept how you feel will only delay your healing.  .Blogging about these times or keeping a journal may prove to be cathartic in nature.  You may realize that far more people are going through similar circumstances.
• Have a social network you can trust.  Discuss your situation with people who have demonstrated loyalty and trustworthiness, but always be careful not to divulge information you are not willing to hear again.  Trusting is risky business yet we must exercise this in order to receive the benefits of human relationships.  
• Evaluate your situation.  Are there changes you can make?  Assume responsibility for the things you can alter or improve.   This will give you greater autonomy and lessen the feeling of helplessness you may experience.
• Seek plausible alternatives.  If you are in a dead-end situation with no scope for improvement be willing to abandon your course irrespective of how painful it is, the gravity of the investments you had made, and how it will appear to others.  It is better to lose at this stage than to persist in an unprofitable venture/relationship/situation and experience even far greater loss in the future.
• Switch up environments if at all possible.  Go out in nature and view the scenery.  Connecting with nature has a way of putting things in perspective.  A breath of fresh air will revitalize and fuel you with the energy to go on.
• Be thankful.  Focus on all the positive outcomes you have had in your life up to this point.  Let this serve to motivate you.  This too will pass like the others before.  Celebrate past blessings, recalling the difficult passages that you have already conquered.  This will inspire confidence and outfit you with the grace to persevere.