Life is short and being in good health in body and mind. Here are the ten daily reminders for a healthy and better life.
1) Remember to drink enough water
Water plays a role in metabolism, cellular membrane function, regulating our body temperature, aiding in digestion to break down foods, helps deliver oxygen throughout your entire working body, aids in digestion from saliva production, lubricates joints, helps our brains create hormones and neurotransmitters, keeps our mucosal membranes moist, transports nutrients from our foods, and keeps our cells rejuvenated, reproducing, and surviving.
When you don’t have enough water, dehydration comes out to play. When you’re dehydrated you’ll experience dry mouth, low blood pressure, headaches, dizziness, dry skin, and worst of all, fatigue.
2) Take small, frequent breaks from technology
As our relationship with mobile devices has grown, the research evidence has mounted: Excessive media use is not good for us physically, mentally, or emotionally. The tyranny of the cell phone has become a source of stress for many.
The good news is that taking a media break is a powerful way to improve our well-being. I still wanted to use my phone when it was helpful or fun. But I wanted a new relationship with it — one with better boundaries, and over which I had more control. The goal wasn’t to never use my phone again; it was to create a sustainable relationship that felt healthy.
3) Remember that it’s okay not to be okay sometimes
Sometimes it feels like society says you should be always happy, and that showing your sadness is a sign of weakness. This is far from true – if you were to hold in all your sadness or anger you would explode. We all have good and bad days. No one can be perfectly happy all of the time, that is not human. One day you feel on top of the world, the next you are down. While I am still trying to accept this myself, I know that it is part of life and whether or not others choose to show it, it still happens.
The journey of life is filled with ups and downs, which is what shapes us into the people we are. When you’re having a bad day or a good day, remember that people do care about you, you are here for a reason, and the world would not be the same without you.
4) It’s okay to make mistakes every now and then
Sometimes you have to touch that hot plate even though you know it will burn your hand.
Sometimes you have to get a hair color or a hair cut we know will look awful, but you get it.
Sometimes you have to taste the disgusting food to make it better the next time you cook.
Sometimes you have to forget your purse in a restaurant so you can learn to be less forgetful the next time.
Sometimes you have fall for the wrong person in order to find the right person for yourself.
Sometimes you have to make the mistake in order to avoid making it the next time around.
A mistake is simply another way of doing things.
Someone gave a very good analogy: What do you first do when you learn to swim? You make mistakes, don’t you? And what happens? You make other mistakes, and when you have made all the mistakes you possibly can without drowning – and some of them many times over – what do you find? That you can swim? Well – life is just the same as learning to swim! Do not be afraid of making mistakes, for there is no other way of learning how to live!
You know, there are certain things in life where you know it’s a mistake but you don’t really know it’s a mistake because the only way to know that it really is a mistake is to make that mistake and go, “Yup, that was a mistake”. So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake because then you’ll go about your whole life not knowing whether it was a mistake or not.
Got it?
Inspired by: How I Met Your Mother 🙂
5) Be kind to others and yourself
We should be kind to others because it’s nice to be nice. That’s simple and enough of a reason. Many people are in pain. Kindness feels good. We feel better when we are kind to others, and we feel good when we receive kindness. There’s so much pain in the world. Kindness is an easy way to spread healing. Kindness is contagious. People who are treated with kindness are kind to others. Even witnessing kind acts creates a positive spiral.
Witnessing acts of kindness brings us a renewed faith in humanity. It creates an increased connection with others and an increased desire to help.
Your acts of kindness will also give you an energy boost. We might expect that both the person who performs the kindness and the person who receives the kindness feel connected. Studies show that when we witness an act of kindness to someone else it’s as if we received the kindness ourselves.
6) Take a deep breath
Have you ever noticed how you breathe when you feel relaxed? The next time you are relaxed, take a moment to notice how your body feels. Or think about how you breathe when you first wake up in the morning or just before you fall asleep.
Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to your body. Those things that happen when you are stressed, such as increased heart rate, fast breathing, and high blood pressure, all decrease as you breathe deeply to relax.
7) Stop apologising for everything that’s going wrong
For many of us, the word “sorry” has become something we reactively utter, regardless of whether we’ve done anything wrong. This seemingly harmless habit can actually lower your self-esteem, justify other people’s poor actions, and turn you into a complete pushover. Over-apologizing for things you have little control over can make people think less of you.
A “sorry” can often be a “thank you” in disguise. When someone does something that makes you both look good, don’t apologize for not doing it yourself. Show some gratitude instead.
8) Crying is not a sign of weakness
Crying is a common phenomenon especially in response to emotions. However, people who cry are often dismissed as weak and unable to cope with their emotions. As a matter of fact, many are reinforced not to cry when faced with emotional distress. We are a society that has not yet come to terms with the fact that revealing ourselves as emotional beings, capable of passion and grief, is not a flaw or sign of weakness.
We are not yet a culture that embraces grief and vulnerability at every turn, but the more each of us allows ourselves to experience and express how we feel, the closer we will get.
9) You’re not a bad person if you put yourself first once in a while
There’s a lot of pressure on us to be self-sacrificing in relationships, at work, and in life in general. It’s natural to want to go above and beyond for people and things you care about, but at a certain point, you have to put yourself first. Being selfish isn’t a bad thing, though — it’s actually one of the smartest and healthiest things you can do for yourself.
You’re not a bad person for wanting to work on yourself first. After all, relationships — romantic or otherwise — come and go. The only person who’s guaranteed to never leave you in the dust is, well, you. You live with yourself every day, so why shouldn’t you be your number one priority?
You’ve got to put in the time to shape your life according to your own goals and dreams because that’s what being an adult means. You can’t give up your time to others and hope that somehow, your selflessness or sheer luck will mean everything works out in the end.
10) Get a good night’s sleep
Sleeping well directly affects your mental and physical health. Fall short and it can take a serious toll on your daytime energy, productivity, emotional balance, and even your weight. Yet many of us regularly toss and turn at night, struggling to get the sleep we need. Getting a good night’s sleep may seem like an impossible goal when you’re wide awake at 3 a.m., but you have much more control over the quality of your sleep than you probably realize. Just as the way you feel during your waking hours often hinges on how well you sleep at night, so the cure for sleep difficulties can often be found in your daily routine.
Unhealthy daytime habits and lifestyle choices can leave you tossing and turning at night and adversely affect your mood, brain and heart health, immune system, creativity, vitality, and weight.
– Godspeed
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