It is now January 4th, 2010. New Year's Day has come and gone, and for many people those resolutions have already gone as well. Most of the time resolutions don't work because the goals set are unrealistic. I have my top ten resolutions I will share with you, so let's start being realistic right off-the-bat and only cover two today.
Read a book: Do not tell me you hate reading, or that the only good books have the most pictures. You, and/or most people do not literally hate reading itself. If this were the case, this article would not be read right this second. Magazines would not be on shelves, (other than some questionable, suggestive ones but that's another story), and the vast amount of information read every day would not be looked up on search engines. People mostly hate reading something that does not interest them. That being said, this is not a high school reading assignment; I am not picking out 4 "classic" novels you must read and engage a conversation in, but for your mental health now and in the future stop by the library, book store, or Walmart. Find a topic that genuinely interests you (mystery, romance, action, comedy, etc.), read the back of the book for the summary to see if it interests u further, take it home, and read before bed if you have no other time.
Slow down!!!: Yes, there are three exclamation marks there. This (slowing down, not exclamation marks) is important for not only mental health, but physical health. When you do not slow down, for whatever reason, stress is constantly put on your body. When you are under constant stress, your blood pressure rises, your heart and all your other organs work twice as hard as they should, and you feel like you are in the nicotine commercial where the scary little critters are going crazy. Stop. Take a deep breath (taking in a belly breath also gives you more energy). Focus on relaxing your body; stress leads to weight gain, poor eating habits, pale skin, and a general feeling of ugly. Don't do this to yourself… this only leads to further destructive attitudes, thoughts and behaviors. You suffer, the people around you suffer, and it's all really for nothing. Take a few minutes each day to take a break and clear your mind; a few minutes is all you really need to slow down.
Balance is the key when it comes to making any resolution, and you don't have to finish your resolution next week! You have an entire year, so take it one day at a time.
Comments