Achieving Psychological Wellness, Part 2

Here are six more factors that can increase psychological wellness.



Make time daily when no one demands anything of you.  Make room for time when no one needs or pulls at you.  It is important to begin feeling comfortable with being alone.  Most of us are not accustomed to silence and believe that being alone means being lonely.  But actually, we need time alone to listen to ourselves.  Sometimes it takes silence for our inner voice to be heard.  Time to ourselves helps us sort out the maze that living causes.  Alone time is imperative for mental wellness.



Learn time management.  There never seems to be enough time to do what needs to be accomplished.  So, the answer is to prioritize.  Make a list every night or every morning of what needs to be done.  Determine the three or four that absolutely must get accomplished.  That way at least the necessities will get done.  If time allows, you can do some of the other things too.  Accept the fact there will always be too much to do.  It will help you achieve inner peace.



Eat a nutritionally balanced diet.  You are what you eat and it affects how you feel, how you deal with stress, and how much you are able to enjoy living.  Treat your body with kindness.



Exercise.  Your body requires exercise in order to be able to function as it was intended.  Exercise helps relieve physical tension, anxiety, and promotes psychological wellness.



Work at something that reminds you that you are more than a spouse, parent, sibling, etc.  We all want to be appreciated for who we are as a person, without any labels.  Work gives us that opportunity.  It allows us to be judged by and valued for our skills and abilities, not by and for whom we married, gave birth to, or happened to be in the same family with.  That sense of individuality is necessary for our well-being.  If you don’t need to earn money, volunteer your time.



Improve your self-esteem.  Most people need to enhance their self-image.  You can do this by having a sense of connectedness.  We need to belong to something, someone, or somewhere.  It can be a social group, cause, place, family, etc.  You cannot have a positive self-image by yourself on an island.  What we believe about ourselves is in part determined by the reflections we see and get from others.  Where we are, who we are with, and why we are there influences how we feel about ourselves.  But, be sure to keep your uniqueness alive.  Don’t ever give up your uniqueness to belong.  There is no one on this earth who is identical to you and you should feel pride and joy in this.  There never has been, nor will there ever be, anyone who can contribute in the exact manner you can.  Revel in this fact and be sure to live it.  Make good choices for yourself.  Remember that your choices help determine your future.  Have models.  We all need models of people who are doing more than we are, who have excelled beyond where we are, and who represent where we want to be someday.  You don’t want to be those people, just what they have accomplished or who they are.  We need a vision of what can be.



Next week I‘ll give you the last six factors that can enhance psychological wellness.



Copyright 2011  Lynn Borenius Brown


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