Healthy Habits Day by Day

–Bringing some Calm and Peace to Your Life

We can be such a nutty bunch. We run around trying to accomplish way more than we reasonably can—way, way out of touch with reality, depriving ourselves of rest and nourishment to our spirit—and then complaining about the stress in our lives. Then, to keep up this

completely unrealistic pace, we artificially charge ourselves with foods that we know are not good for us: too much sugar, too much caffeince…

Then we say we are crazy busy. And we talk about our lives as though we are the completely helpless victims of some sinister outside force named Stress. (In my 10 by 10 workbook I address this with good humor in the chapter “As Slow As Possible, As Fast as Necessary.” )

Some of us want to continue to push our bodies beyond what they can bear—distressing them—but not FEEL the buildup of stress. Gimme a pill so I can keep going and going and going and going…. Many of us want to keep living the life, with all the worry/hurry/scurry but not feel the results. Doesn’t work that way.

Most of us already know what we can and should be doing to be in good health and to feel as well as possible. But we are often at conflict with ourselves. We don’t do what we know to be good for us. That’s me. You, too?

The Hurry-Worry western culture blows at us and continues to try to convince us that if we aren’t doing more and buying more that we are somehow left behind—as if life is a race and we are the ones being left behind.

Don’t buy into it! Trying to do it all and have it all is a lie that makes your life poorer, not richer. The quality of your life goes down, even as you collect more stuff. Concentrating on the things you do have, with gratitude, is the way to more happiness. Rushing and buying and racing and eating while you drive and going into debt is not the secret to happiness my dear friends!

Rather, these are the things that are proven to helping folks feel happier and more at peace day by day:

1 Get enough sleep

Enough good sleep is the royal road to wellness. If you only do one of the things I suggest here DO THIS ONE. Often we stay up a little later watching a TV show saying we need to unwind when we would be much better off adding an hour of sleep and shutting off “Law and Order.” This is the best thing you can do for yourself. Really. You will feel so much better, and life will feel a little easier.

IF I am completely honest with myself, my sleep habits are like this:

I could improve my sleep by

For the next week I might try to help myself by

2 Let go of the idea of having it all, doing it all, and being it all

This is greed. It’s unrealistic, and it’s a lie. People who buy into the hurry worry culture spend their time in a chronic state of tension, which feels lousy—to themselves and those around them. You can set yourself free of so much worry by just dropping out of the game. Letting go. You can stop any time you want!

It’s hard for me to let go of

I know I drive myself unrealistically in the area of

3 Nourish your spirit

Sometimes in a structured setting—featuring accurate knowledge of God and his will. Sometimes more restful and restorative, like a walk in the natural world. Ideally these mingle, including prayer and restfulness

I really feel restored when I

The last time I spent time in the natural world was

4 Eat moderately

This is hard and getting harder if you live in the indulgent western culture. That means no binging, nor extreme dieting. We aren’t all going to look like the models on TV, and we should let go of trying. This will be life long work for all of us. I have times I do well and times I am weak. Sound like you? Make one small change at a time. You know what is good for you and what is not. And you know what amounts are enough and what is too much. If there is a longing in your life, recognize it and try to fill it in a more straightforward way than stuffing yourself with food. Easier said than done, for sure. When you are weak and have a bad day—or a bad meal—forgive yourself and start again. Kindly.

One of my unhealthy eating habits is

One of my healthier eating habits is

A small improvement I could make in my eating would be for me to

5 Pay attention to your body

This may mean some vigorous exercise, or just walking. Maybe some stretching feels right for you. But find something that gets you noticing the great long muscles in your legs and the places where you may hold some tension. Check out how GOOD it feels to stretch your calf muscles by bending and holding your foot at all angles. Find one of these ways to release the tension your body holds, and also to humble you for the tremendous gift of being alive in your amazing human organism.

Often folks that are noticing their body this way start to pay more attention to their eating and rest as well. A cycle of healthy awareness builds on itself.

One way I take good care of my body is

An improvement I could easily make would be to

6 Expect relapses, be compassionate to yourself and start again

There are days when we are aware and strong, and there are days when we can hardly live up to any of our good intentions. Expect both. Know it about yourself: good strong days are ahead and so are weak days.

In the past I have fallen out of good habits when I

I can expect myself to have trouble with this weakness of mine:

Taking it a Step Further

The small things we do day by day are actually, well, our life. (Remember the old line that says “Life is the stuff that happens to you while you are making other plans?”)

Is it time for you to face this a little more realistically? Is it time for you to be more honest and compassionate to your body? And to the real people in your world? Might be. If you would like to continue to think about this part of your life, and even explore it further and GROW in it, you may like to try some of the exercises in chapter 1 of the 10 by 10 workbook under the subheadings “Loving the Wonderful Body You Have Been Given” and “ Nourishing and Healing: It’s Never Too Late to Raise Yourself.”