A few weeks ago I was on a roll. I was working out, eating healthy, working hard and parenting at my best. Then a truck came again, in the form of an ex-relationship rearing its ugly head, and ran me over. It knocked out one of my kids and flattened the other. So I found myself in “Stop! Assess! Manage! Survive!” for a few weeks while I guided our tippy family ship into safe waters.
It took all I had to keep a baseline going in my business, handling the emotional fallout for my kids, and you guessed it – my self care went out the window. The funny thing was I stepped on the scale and lost 8 pounds due to stress but looking in the mirror, each drama trauma was stamped on my sullen, unhealthy pallor plate I called a face.
This morning I work up determined to get back on track. I think that is one of the hardest things to do when life throws you a curveball. I read all weekend about tips, tricks and techniques to get myself on track. I thought about what I would do and how. I thought about what was important and what was I trying to achieve. After keeping myself up for two restless nights, I found out all this comes down to two choices.
I can choose healthy or unhealthy as I go about my day. Pretty simple. It really doesn’t have to get more complicated than that. A healthy lifestyle is an ongoing choice. For me, it is the only choice.
Now I know I go all green juice on you from time to time, but in reality a healthy lifestyle consists of mind, body, and spirit, and I’m going to add environment. I am going to break up each of these categories into subcategories because I’m Zen and Anal Retentive. So in each of these I am going to choose what is healthy for me.
Mind – What thoughts am I thinking? What shows am I watching? What books am I reading? Who am I listening to?
Body – What foods am I eating? What exercise am I getting? What am I doing for flexibility and balance? What rest am I getting? What is the condition of my hair, skin, hands and feet?
Spirit –What prayers am I saying? What am I asking of God? What weekly or daily practice am I doing? What happens when I meditate?
Environment –What work am I doing? What money am I spending? What clothes am I wearing? What is the condition of my house, office and car?
This seems like a lot, but to me they are my unhealthy trigger questions. I’m not saying all things are bad, but I know what things are bad for me: junk food, junk tv, junk video game playing because they are there to help me avoid what is happening – not just a fun release or occasional treat.
If you are like me, the following happens when you get run over by life: bad thoughts lead to stupid TV and books and talking to people who upset me. Then I choose bad foods, stop exercising and neglect my hair, my skin and my clothes and my home. Finally I stop praying and meditating and I feel like garbage.
Any one of those questions above can help me determine how off track I am. And in times of crisis, I need to take a minute and do the mind, body, spirit, environment gut check. See, getting a few cars back on the track is a whole lot easier than bringing the whole train back on track. So asking these questions helps me manage when life blows away in a tornado.
What are your questions?
Bouncing with Style is about keeping tabs on yourself when you get off track to avoid the train wreck. Just because trauma, drama and someone else’s problems come into your life doesn’t mean your whole life has to be thrown out of whack. Asking your questions can help you get a head’s up before you are derailed. A simple mind, body, spirit, environment check can make all the difference between a happy healthy life and the way we don’t want to live.
When i read this post, i remembered a famous quotation ” Control you emotions before it controls you”. A good mindset can help everyone to bounce back in style in every adverse situations.