Creating Balance

One of my courses from this term includes a project in which we have to choose, monitor, and change a health behavior toward an improved health lifestyle. Something I have always wanted to achieve yet have had difficulty in so doing has been creating balance in my physical, emotional/mental, spiritual, and social health realms-as to me true health occurs when all aspects of a healthy lifestyle can be balanced. Thus my goal for this project has been to create and maintain balance through monitoring and creating subgoals for these four areas.

Creating goals motivates individuals to be mindful of and to work toward change. Although our goals may change along the way, we still have something toward which we are moving. While at times I am opposed to the idea of trying to live a "mapped out" life, I do think it is important to have ideas for what we want and to think of the means in which we must navigate in order to ahieve our ideas. It always surprises me when I meet people who have goals, yet have never thought of how to achieve them as they just expect for them to happen.

Thus my project has been overly beneficial for me. I am doing something positive for myself and getting a grade for it. So far it's two weeks in and as a result of moving to the city my physical health has improved immensely just from all the walking I do now. As part of my emotional/mental health I am taking time to write in my journal, to create at least a weekly blog posting, and am attempting to organize my plans, thoughts, and surroundings before going to bed at night-something that greatly lays my mind at rest and prepares me for the day ahead. My goals for my social health focus more on remaining connected to the individuals that mean the most to me and in limiting the social activities that I engage in otherwise. Sometimes creating balance equates to placing limits in some areas and growth in other areas. The hardest yet most beneficial goals for me pertain to my spiritual health. Nothing makes me feel quite so peaceful and able to give up control than when I am in the Word or in prayer on a regular basis. Yet for some reason this area is the hardest for me to focus on as well.

The idea of participating in formalized goals and monitoring activities is that eventually the behavior and its benefits become normalized. You no longer have to think about doing the behavior because it becomes standardized. While I can see how these activities will change as my life changes, going through the monitoring and goal process allows me to recognize how important it is to have and what it takes to create balance within my life.

And the best part is that with my project and with my time away to the coast this weekend, I actually have some free time to think, to knit, to really relish my surroundings. Time management and goal work-what beautiful things for stress reduction.

What goals would you like or what behaviors would you like to change or implement in your life?