"Take what you need and leave the rest..."
10 TIPS FOR A PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY BALANCED LIFE By Garrett J. Braunreiter, CSCS, The Energy Coach
Every moment of every day, we have the ability to create for ourselves new beginnings and new challenges that will help us reach our full potential, and that all things are possible.
It's easy to get overwhelmed by negative thoughts, people, and circumstances, but we can take steps to understand what it means to live a balanced life. Vital health and peace of mind go hand in hand - you can't be physically super fit without being mentally super fit as well.
And more and more people today are interested in becoming truly healthy - not just physically - but mentally, spiritually, and emotionally as well.
Here are 10 tips to keep yourself in balance:
1. Exercise.A well-rounded fitness routine includes strength training, aerobic conditioning, and flexibility. Critical to your success in staying balanced is to make exercise a TOP PRIORITY in your life - and staying committed to it. Being fit helps you to enjoy life. It increases mental sharpness and physical endurance. An energized body helps give you a positive outlook on life, plus you look great, feel great, and reduce your risk of disease.
2. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day.Water helps transport vital nutrients, regulates body temperature, eases digestion, keeps joints supple, cleans out your body, keeps skin healthy and young.
Not drinking enough leads to dehydration, resulting in headaches, fatigue, dizziness, constipation, and foggy memory. Not drinking enough water can lead to excess water weight, because our bodies will store water outside our cells. That's where you feel bloaty and heavy.
Water helps the liver do its job more efficiently, namely in metabolizing fat. If you're not consuming enough water, your liver has to work overtime with its other primary function: detoxifying the body. Water helps maximizes the liver's efficiency of both jobs, so you keep your insides clean, your weight healthy, and get rid of fat.
3. Life is perfect, even if you don't think it is.God deals you a hand every day. What you get is what you get. Your job is to do the best you can with the hand you're dealt. That doesn't mean you have to "lie down and play dead." What can you do better to make your life MORE perfect? Know that you can create your dreams, no matter how difficult life can be at times.
4. Feel the fear and do it anyway.Helen Keller once said, "Life is either a series of adventures, or it is nothing." We all have this shield of armor that protects us from some aspect of life. This shield is your comfort zone. And that comfort zone is a haven for disintegration. When you take off this armor, the only thing you're risking is GROWTH, a wonderful life, high energy, and a leaner body.
5. Be a daily visionary.Visualize your goals and your dreams - every day. Take a five-minute break from your computer, stop off on the side of the road in between sales meetings, and create a motion picture on the screen of your mind of your goals, your dreams, of how you'd like your life to be. Visualize yourself already in possession of your wishes.
6. Feed your body well.Your diet can help prevent illness and disease. Some 300,000 deaths per year are a result of poor lifestyle choices, and nutrition habits is one of those poor choices.
1) Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day, 2) Eat at least 4 balanced meals a day, 3) Eat a variety of fruits and veggies - in different colors. These colors will give you a greater spectrum of valuable disease-fighting nutrients.
7. Live in the present.Yesterday's gone. Tomorrow never comes. Be fully present each moment and free yourself from the ball-and-chain of yesterday and tomorrow. Everything is always in the present moment, so live it fully.
8. Live with integrity.You talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? Being in integrity means you really are who you appear to be. How you live your life is reflected in your commitments, your values, your beliefs, your sense of right and wrong. When you live in harmony with what you believe in, you have peace and happiness flowing into your life.
9. Develop high self-esteem.You already know how you benefit from a high self-esteem. People who you care about benefit, too. Let go of your emotional baggage, treat yourself with respect. Your attitude - how you think, feel, and act - mirrors how you feel about yourself.
10. Live respectfully.You are NOT at the mercy of your circumstances. George Bernard Shaw said, "The winners in life look for the ideal circumstances, and if they cannot find them, THEY MAKE THEM." Are YOU letting your present results and circumstances control YOU? Are YOU making things happen?
"Develop Unstoppable Motivation, Conquer Your Fears, Overcome Procrastination, and Energize Your Life"
I loved that note!. I emailed it to a couple of friends and my husband at the office. We all found it very inspiring. A list of everythinh we already all know but you need to see it in print every now and then to stay focused. #3,8 and 10 are my favorites.
Thanks for this. They are great tips for living!
My grandfather was our minister while I was growing up. You are so right... we make the best out of the hand He dealt us. I know from personal experiences, if I didn't have a close relationship with God, I would never have made it through the difficult times in life... One of my favorite poems is "Footprints in the Sand".
Thanks again, Mary for the wonderful post you made and reminding me of what I DO have to be thankful for! The most important "lessons" I've learned are those we get from the difficult times in our lives. They have made me who I am today!
Molly
That was a great reminder for me today! I feel better after reading it!
Suzie
I am taking an aquasize (water exercise) class and I don't have to worry about missing one class a month because of my period!!!! :biggrin: :cheesy:
You mentioned endometriosis. I can relate all to well with the excruciating periods.
Did you have a hysterectomy? I did at age 27, but he left my ovaries and now I am having more pain and endo symptoms. Do you have any problems with endo now?.......or are you pain free?
Would love to hear from ya and how you are doing!!:)Molly
Except ...I may be tormented with insomnia, sweats, anxiety, weight, bloat, and a creaky body... but I AM a LOT feistier than I ever was! I don't worry as much about whether people like me. I'm more honest, more a straightshooter, I have less tolerance for bigots and jerks. Some (including my significant other) might think this is not necessarily that positive a development! But compared to the me who used to have to think things ten times over before speaking up and used to preface my remarks with things like "maybe this isn't important, but..." I'm happier being this way and it was hitting my late 40s that seemed to turn it on. Yay for midlife!
Queen
Queen mizz
Suzie
Grandma passed through menoapuse about 50 years ago, before I was born. She shared her memories of that time, her symptoms, the resoloution. I want to discuss this further with her to explore more of the emotional issues.
I think that one of the causes of loss of self-esteem and depression in the elderly is due to their thinking that they no longer have anyting worthwhile to contribute. Grandma gave me symapthy and support that she knew I needed. It was sweet! I am grateful to her for being there for me. She shared her wisdom with me and it made her feel good, too.
Grandma's body is frail and she seems to get tinier all the time, but she has such a great spirit and a warm heart. I am blessed to share her company .
"...And though she was born a long, long time ago,Your mother should know, your mother should know..."
O, yeah...another positive menopause experience has been PowerSurge!
Thank you.
My mother and I have had lifelong disagreements and struggles, although I'm very close to my father. But now that they're both elderly - mom is 88 and dad is 82, I find myself with a whole new love and respect for them. They love and accept me as I am, instead of trying to change me, like they tried for years. And for that, I am truly grateful. I guess that's a positive menopause experience!
I've always been a rather shy person...afraid to speak my mind or give my opinion on anything for fear I'd alienate people. See, I wanted to be liked by everyone.
With the onset of perimenopause, I'm finding I don't have that need anymore. And I'm speaking out more....and speaking my mind and telling how I honestly feel. And I don't worry that someone won't like me because of an opinion I have on something.
In fact, I've come to realize that I'd rather be disliked honestly for who I am, than to be liked for someone I'm not.
Very freeing!
Last weekend, I bought a sticker that reads, "I can only please one person a day. Today isn't your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good, either".
It seems kind of cold, but then I have to remember that the person I must please first has to be me. It is a humorous way for me to remind myself to care of myself.
"If I'm not for me, who am I? Nobody!"
I wholeheartedly agree with you on how freeing speaking your mind can be!
rhea
POWER SURGE!
(I'll come up with some other things when it's OVER!)
Debbi
Last weekend, I bought a sticker that reads, "I can only please one person a day. Today isn't your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good, either".
It seems kind of cold, but then I have to remember that the person I must please first has to be me. It is a humorous way for me to remind myself to care of myself.
You know, when I was younger, I sort of "tried on" the person I am now, and found that many people think being for oneself is terribly selfish.
But then, those are the people who spare no pains to do things for others while reminding them how much was sacrificed for them.
The old, "Look at all I've done for you and you treat me like this" ploy.
poo.
As I learned in a 12 step program once, you can't give away what you don't have. Makes sense!
So.
Did you post that sticker where others will see it? :)
I've always been a rather shy person...afraid to speak my mind or give my opinion on anything for fear I'd alienate people. See, I wanted to be liked by everyone.
With the onset of perimenopause, I'm finding I don't have that need anymore. And I'm speaking out more....and speaking my mind and telling how I honestly feel. And I don't worry that someone won't like me because of an opinion I have on something.
In fact, I've come to realize that I'd rather be disliked honestly for who I am, than to be liked for someone I'm not.
Very freeing!
Very well put....thanks for this post. I needed to hear it.
Georgia Dove~~
I find this time of life a time to reevaluate, do what I want to do, not what others say I should. I avoid "toxic" people, who would just undermine the good feeling I get - it is great to be alive, hot flashes and all. I wonder if maybe we are avoiding the issues of - let's face it ladies - aging and not finding our places in society. We are, perhaps, trying to avoid this stage, instead. Has anyone read Susun Weed's book. I like this philosophy - Hey, we're becoming wiser, as well as older. Let's have some discussion on this.
Glad to hear you're making the best of this life change. I agree, we are becoming wiser due this time of life and being forced to face issues that we have easliy ignored in our youth. I also have been having a very difficult time accepting the fact that I'm aging . I have done everything in my power to stop it - to no avail !
Nice to hear from you..... I haven't felt really positive from this experience ! Maybe I'll read the book you suggested.
Suzie
Susun Weed, like so many other helpful, knowlegeable people, has been Dearest's guest in one of the Thursday night Guest Chats.
You can read the transcript of her visit in the Power Surge Library.
I think that maybe people don't post in here so much because, after they're feeling well again, they want to forget all about the experience!
Just my thought I've had a pretty positive time with menopause - I learned a lot, made lots of good friends - but I posted about it when this board first started and haven't added anything lately. Others here may have done the same.