A Healthy Lifestyle

 

 

A Healthy Lifestyle

 

A healthy lifestyle is one that is well balanced. As far as can I remember there were five dominions of wellness that was essential to having a healthy lifestyle, now -a -days there are eight or more dominions of wellness that is essential to promote a well balanced lifestyle. I’m focusing on the eight as followers. A person’s life should be equally balance in the following areas:

 

Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, Physical, Financial, Occupational, Social, Intellectual, Environmental

 

 

Spiritual Wellness:

Spiritual wellness is the ability to establish peace and harmony in our lives. It is expanding our sense of purpose and meaning in life, and contributing to the spiritual health of others. Whether you attend church or some other entity of worship and practice meditation, you can connect with a higher power that will help you get connected to your inner feelings.

 

 Solutions to promote spiritual wellness:

• Learn to accept and tolerate the beliefs of others.
• Pray, worship, and meditate everyday and keep a personal relationship with God.
• Keep your mind focused on thoughts that reflect more positive actions and stay true to yourself and follow your heart.

Bible Verse:

Mathew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 

 

Mental Wellness:

Mental wellness can be influenced by biological factors such as medication, imbalance nervous system, illnesses and your family history. Also your social environment can affect your mental wellness, such as having lost a loved one, living in poverty, stress, and traumatic events.

 

Solutions to promote mental wellness;

• Stick to an exercise plan and eat healthy.
• Surround yourself in an emotionally enriched environment.
• Get adequate rest and sleep and find ways to reduce stress.

Bible Verse:

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

Emotional Wellness:

Emotional wellness includes the ability to make your own decisions, and to manage, express and cope with your own feelings. It also includes the extent to how enthusiastic and positive a person feels about them self.

 Solutions to promote Emotional Wellness:

• Spend time with family and friends discussing personal concerns.
• Attend social events alone, you can meet other people or with a friend if you prefer.
• Practice optimism and try to keep a smile on your face. 

 Bible Verse:

 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

 

 

Physical Wellness:

Physical wellness is necessary in order to live a healthier lifestyle and increase your chances for longevity. It includes exercise, eating a healthy well balanced diet and attending to one’s body by avoiding excessive use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

 

 Solutions to promote physically wellness:

• Stick to a regimen of exercising at least 30 minutes a day.
• Control your meal portions and drink plenty of water.
• Make sure you get a consistent and an adequate amount of sleep.  

 Bible Verse:

3John 1:2

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

 

 

Financial Wellness:

Financial wellness is a person having the ability to live within their means, and being prepared for emergencies. They also have an understanding of their financial situation and act accordingly in such a way that they are prepared for any financial change.

 

 Solutions to promote financial wellness:

• Strategically plan your life beginning at the time prior to high school graduation, and strive for a career that will be lucrative to your needs.
• Seek financial counseling, if you are not good with handling money.
• You must be comfortable with where your money comes from, and where it is going.

Bible Verse:

1Timothy 5:8

"But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

 

 

Occupational Wellness:

Occupational wellness involves preparing for a career that will give you personal satisfaction and enrichment. It also involves keeping a good balance between work and leisure.

 

 Solutions to promote occupational wellness:

• Choose a career that is of your interest and that will also be rewarding.
• Remain active and involved in order to develop and maintain functional and transferable skills.
• Choose a career and company that will allow you the opportunity to move ahead and not be dormant in one position.
  

Bible Verse:

Proverbs 11: 24-25

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

 

 

Social Wellness:

Social wellness includes developing healthy relationships, being able to work together in a group socially and professionally, developing friendships, intimacy, being able to empathize with others, having good listening skills, caring for others and allowing others to care for you.

 

Solutions to promote social wellness:

• Keep in touch with the people you love and are a positive aspect of your life.
• Surround yourself with positive things and people that may nurture your needs.
• Join a support group, book club etc. or organization of your interest. 

 Bible Verse:

 Joshua 1:9

 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

 

Intellectual Wellness:

 Intellectual wellness involves a person excepting whom they are while seeking improvement for who they want to become. It involves engaging in creative and mentally stimulating activities and using appropriate resources to expand one’s knowledge.

 

 Solutions to promote intellectual wellness:

• Challenge your mind with intellectual pursuits and don’t allow yourself to become unproductive.
• Identify potential problems that may occur in your life and take action immediately.
• Keep your brain healthy by eating brain smart foods and taking natural supplements that promote brain health.

 Bible Verse:

 1Peter 1:13

 ¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Environmental Wellness:

Environmental wellness includes caring about your surroundings, seeking growth and living an environmentally conscious life. You don’t have to join an organization to live an emotional well balance life, there are other things a person can do.

 

 

Solutions to promote environmental wellness:

• Recycle plastics, aluminum cans, class, paper etc.
• Help keep your neighborhood clean.
• Eliminate clutter in your home. 

 Bible Verse:

 Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s Really Going On?

 

          Just want to share with you what’s on my mind today that I never want to do again in life. I am thinking about how I lost so much time and a large portion of my life in a relationship that I kept saying I didn’t want to be in, and for the life of me I still can’t figure out why was I in this relationship so long. I know the reason I did it, it was because I was made to feel guilty every time I wanted to end the relationship, but I still have a hard time

understanding why I let the reason be a factor in my life. Another reason, which is probably the main reason the relationship lasted so long was because I did not know how to deal with a manipulator.

 

          Ladies please think of yourself just as much or more than you think of the next person. I’m not saying not to care about anyone else, but love yourself, put yourself first and set your standards high. When it comes to the point that you are asking yourself while in your relationship, is this thing getting out of hand and you’re sad trying to make someone else happy, you need to know what’s really going on. Well I spent over Ten years (I lost count of the years because I don’t want to remember how long it was); trying to make a relationship work that just wasn’t working, because when I wanted out I was always told that I was not trying. I spent hours arguing with this person about why we didn’t belong together and that I am sorry, but “I just don’t love you”.

      

          When I first met this man I didn’t really know how I felt about him. We had a nice conversation, we shared pictures of our daughters, and learned that their birthdays were in the same month, and we also learned that our birthdays were in the same month. A perfect match you would think, but something just didn’t feel right. After about a month I expressed to him that I didn’t think this relationship was going to work, but he insisted that I give it some more time, so I did. I felt like I was pretending, and trying to make this relationship work, turned into many years of frustration and wasted time.

 

          He didn’t make matters any better, because he would try to make me do things for him by telling me what he claimed his ex-wife had done for him such as, run his bath water and massage his back every night, etc. He also wanted me to cook his food exactly the way his mother cooked it. I was always being compared to someone from his past relationships. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind making a man happy, but don’t try to make me do things by telling me what your ex-wife, ex-girlfriend or  your mother did for you, especially when it seems you’re just doing it out of spite and trying to make a mockery out of me and laughing behind my back. I felt like I was being manipulated. A person should know that’s the kind of thing that would run another person away.

    

     Some of the things I mentioned about him may seem small, but the bottom line is that he was a manipulator. I didn’t like his persona, because he was a person who thought he had to have his way all of the time, no matter how it made the other person feel. It seemed that everywhere we went he had to show people that he was the boss-man. He was loud and he felt he had to defend himself even before something happened, but he would always tell me I was the insecure one; He called me out of my name quite often and threw temper tantrums when he couldn’t get his way. When it comes to relationships these days I’m still trying to figure out, what’s really going on. If two people are secure within themselves, then one does not have to put the other down to make themselves feel good. We should be lifting each other up and making compromises in order to make a relationship work, instead he would tell me “A person is just who they are and there are some things you just can’t change about yourself.” Ladies we always see the signs, pay attention to them, and act accordingly. If the shoe does not fit, don’t force it.

 

Suggestions:

• Always remember that you are number one on this earth, so set your standards high, not to think you are better than anyone else but equal.
• Love and respect yourself first and it will be easier to love and respect someone else, and know who to accept in your life.
• When starting a new relationship, pay attention to the signs, such as, “Am I getting the respect I deserve?” and react accordingly.

 

Daniel 10:19

Strength Of People

He said, "O man of high esteem, do not be afraid Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!" Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength and said, "May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

 

Psalms 139:13-14

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

 

 

Quit Blaming

          The speaker at the church where I visited on 7/21/2013 gave a very informative message. The topic of the message was “Quit Blaming” quit blaming other people or certain circumstances for negative things that’s happening in your life and quit holding on to the past. She actually embarked on some of things that I was already thinking about concerning myself. I guess you could say she confirmed my very thoughts, and put them into perspective. She gave nine examples of life practices that you should indulge in on a regular basis, but the one that stood out to me the most is “The voice of Declaration.”          

          "The Voice of Declaration," tells you to speak out and up for yourself, and not let other people tell you who you are, or who you have the ability to become. For a large portion of my life I stayed in a state of confusion because I didn’t really know who I was or where I was going in life. Even though I grew up in negative surroundings, I tried not to dwell on that, but at the same time it’s hard to move on when you have feelings of insecurity, discouragement, and low self esteem. When dealing with those kinds of strongholds in your life, you really have to have faith in knowing that change is always possible, but you have to work at it.  Another practice that stood out to me was “The Mirror of Self Confrontation.”

          “The Mirror of Self Confrontation,” helps you confront yourself about anything that concerns you and no one else. It helps you lift the burden of blame off of your conscious and give you a mind free of guilt. Lately I had been confronting myself about being more positive and not being so opinionated and concern about other people situations. Sometime I feel I may dig to deep into things, and make them worse than what they are. I feel that I’m showing concern. Even though you may feel you need to talk to someone about another person’s situation sometimes it may start to sound like gossip. I should be talking to the person involved in the situation anyway, instead of someone else. If I can’t physically help the person with the situation, then I should just pray for the person as I pray for myself and my situations, and always share a loving and caring heart.

 

 

Solutions:

The Voice of Declaration:

• Express yourself, but always in a positive and dignified manner.
• Learn to love yourself and change what is needed to be change.
• Speak over yourself with encouraging words every day.

 

Bible Verse:

Romans 12: 6-7

⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

 

 

The Mirror of self confrontation:

• Confront yourself and not blame others for what’s going wrong in your life.
• You may want to seek counsel from your pastor, assistant pastor or a counselor in your church on whatever you are confronting yourself about.
• Practice the art of self awareness to see how much, if any, of your blame involves other people.

 

Bible Verses:

Proverbs 20: 5

⁵The purpose in the heart of man is like deep water,
but a man of understanding will draw it out.

 

Proverbs 21: 2

²Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the hearts

Fearful Memories

 

The majority of my childhood life was a happy time for me, except when I had to face challenges that were kind of hard for me. Like I said before I was very shy and when I was asked to do something like go to the neighbor’s house to borrow something, it brought out the fear in me. One day I was asked to go over to our Mr. Joe and Mrs. Lilly’s house, our neighbor that lived across the street from us, to borrow their hammer. I knocked on the door and Mrs. Lilly asked “who is it,” I said, “Len” in a very low voice. So Mrs. Lilly asked again, “who is it” so I answered in a little bit louder voice, It’s Len. Mrs. Lilly finally opened the door. Then I said in a voice that started out soft and ended up a little louder, “may I borrow your ham-mer.” What did you say Mrs. Lilly asked? May I borrow the hammer, I asked in a somewhat louder voice. Mrs. Lilly finally understood what I said and gave me the hammer for my mother to use. I know that I wasn’t the only shy person in the world, but a lot of times I felt like it. It’s pretty lonely in a shy world because you hardly talked to anyone, because for some reason you’re so afraid to.

 

The message I want to relay from this little passage is that when you are shy, as a little child it’s hard to overcome by yourself, I think my mother was trying to help me when she sent me over to Mr. Joe and Mrs. Lilly’s house to borrow their hammer, but what really would have helped would have been to first, help me and my siblings gain confidence in ourselves by speaking more positive words to us instead of negative ones, and  praising us more for the good things that we did instead of making us feel like we never did enough. Every child needs a little praise to help make them feel good about themselves, not to make my parents look bad because I love them very much, but neither me nor my sisters and brothers got a lot of praise during our childhood, except being told by other people how polite and well mannered we were. That was one thing my parents felt strongly about. That could be a plus or a minus because even though being polite is a good thing, a person can over indulge themselves in being polite and kind, which can lead to your kindness being taken as a weakness, so I say be kind with limits, but that’s another story that I will eventually write about.

 

Here are a few suggestions to help you bring yourself out of being shy and gain more courage:

• Praise yourself
• Learn to love yourself
• Never feel that you are not worthy of other people
• Focus on positive things people say about you
• Except compliments

 

Bible Verse:

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

 

Who Am I?

                           

Who am I?

Finding Lenora

          A lot of times I think about how I wanted to be different when I was growing up. I was very shy and closed in, I guess I should say passive, but I hate that word. Anyway it caused me not to express my feelings or my thoughts to people very much at all, It seems that I never said what I felt about anything, and when you don’t express yourself about anything you began to be looked at as stupid, that was another thing I ignored for a long time until a few years ago. I began to notice that people didn’t trust me to do certain things or they didn’t trust my answer to a question even though it was the correct answer. As time went on and I began to notice this more and more each day, my thoughts were, “surely they can’t think of me as being that ignorant,” but they did or do. Part of the problem is that when you are shy you’re usually very passage and if you are not taught anything different than that, then that’s the way you’re going to grow up. You may not notice, but you’re never sure of yourself and that is why no one else is sure of you. Along with all that, the shyness and the passiveness also comes low self esteem.

Suggestions:

• When you’re young and too afraid to talk to anyone, choose a person in your class, Sunday school class, or church that you can use as a role model, and look at their positive behavior and mimic it.
• Ask your parents to get you involved into a youth group with strong leadership.
• Talk to your sibling that you are closest to if possible and share your feelings with them. They may be able to give you some helpful advice as to how they may overcome discomfort when they’re with their friends.

 

Bible Verse:

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

 

Misunderstood

          When I was in the fourth grade I didn’t have many friends. The other girls in my classroom thought I felt that I was better than they were, I guess because I didn’t talk to them. I overheard them talking about me one day outside. I was standing against a wall that they were sitting behind and one girl asked the other girls what they thought about me and they all said that I thought I was cute and I thought I was better than them because I had long hair, but little did they know. I guess they didn’t know any better because if they did they would have approach me and try to make friends with me instead of criticizing me. Knowing myself I would have gladly accepted that. Another reason I didn’t talk to anyone is because I was new at that school. My mother transferred me from the school where my sister, my niece and my cousins went to this other school because the bus came closer to the house. That was around the time the doctor discovered I had Rheumatic Fever, so I was told I couldn’t indulge into too much physical activities and that the bus stop was too far away for me to walk to, to get to the other school. On top of everything else I was missing my old school, my friends and my family.

Suggestions:

• When in a new environment find ways to show your friendly, approachable side.
• If you are being judge in the wrong way, talk to your parents, the Principal at your school or a teacher about it, to help you get the situation resolved.
• If you are feeling discomfort because of an illness, personal situation etc, just remember that no one should know, it should be kept confidential by your school officials and also we are still all the same in the eyesight of God, the situation at hand should not change how people feel about you.

 

Bible Verse:

Proverbs 17:9

He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.

 

Gaining Confidence

           When I was dating my high school sweetheart he would ask me why I never talked and of course I didn’t have an answer for him except that I was shy, but I don’t think he related to that very well he just wanted me to talk more. He told me I express myself very well in my letters that I wrote to him, after he had gone off to college, so he didn’t understand why I couldn’t verbally say those things out loud. Finally at some point of our relationship I started to talk more, I guess he made me feel comfortable and good about myself, or he complained about it so much that I just wanted to do something about it, and also I was getting very tired and kind of angry at myself for being so shy, that I did want to do something about it. Eventually it got to the point to where one day he told me I was talking too much. I guess I gained a little confidence, but I do remember still having trouble with letting go. I held in my excitement, if I was excited about something. I didn’t really engage in conversation with my girl friends when we hung out. We did converse somewhat over the phone, but I was more of the listener. I guess being shy can cause a lot of problems in a person’s life, because of it, I almost felt destroyed.

          Things have changed some since I was a little girl, but I still feel rejected a lot of times, and not heard, and sometimes people tend to talk to me as if I was a little girl, or they just talk over me as if I’m not there. I know, I may have brought a lot of things upon myself, but having a low self esteem and being shy and passive is hard to overcome without a mentor or a positive role model by your side to teach you how to build your character and feel good about yourself.

Suggestions:

• Go into a room alone and look into a mirror and pretend you’re having a conversation with someone. Practice makes perfect!
• Stop focusing on older versions of your self esteem that no longer exists, and adjust your own beliefs about yourself and your strengths as you grow.  Speak positive words over yourself every day.
• When hanging out with your friends, try to have a conversation with at least one of them to help build your courage and confidence, and never think that their views are better than yours.

 

Bible Verse

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

 

Finding Faith

          I grew up in church and was baptized when I was thirteen. I didn’t understand what I was doing; I did it because my mother said I had to and that it was time. Even though I understood what giving your life to Christ meant as I got older, I still didn’t relate to what being a true Christian meant until I was in my late thirties or early forties, when I gained more knowledge of God. At that time I felt that I was ready to give my life to Christ, I felt that being close to God would help me overcome the hardships in my life. Even then I went through times of not feeling good about myself and not knowing how to attack and overcome my problems, and I still struggle with the understanding of my relationship with God and my faith in Him.

          I know that becoming a Christian is not going to erase all your problems, but being closer to God will make things a lot easier only if you know how to allow certain changes to be made in your life and keep the faith, even if it’s only the size of a mustard seed, that’s all the faith God said we need. Now how hard is that? It’s as hard as we make it. I think I may have been confused about how things work with God, I felt that if I’ve had the will and he would show me the way but there is still something missing from this puzzle, and when things doesn’t quite go right I lose my patience and trust in God. One thing that caused me to become misconstrued is when I listen to a preacher talk about sowing seeds. Sometimes they make you think you won’t get any blessings if you don’t put money on the altar or in a basket as a seed offering. The new testament of the bible says we live under grace and mercy, but I’ve yet to understand what that really means. All I know is that I want so much to feel comfortable about whom I am, about my faith, and about feeling confident around other people at all time and not feel self conscious at any time.

Suggestions:

• Whatever your religion may be, meditate on the spiritual aspect of it, which is the more personal and private side of religion, in order to find inner peace.
• Don’t get caught up into religion, but know what God expect from you and practice what the word of God says. The word of God should be consistent in all religion.
• Be conscious of all that is, with Peace, Happiness, and Universal love, continually growing in your heart.

Bible Verse:

Psalm 27:3

“Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.”

 

Coming into Reality

          When I started working at a Christian school in 2005 I was a little timid about going back into the class room because I hadn’t worked as an assistant teacher since 1998 and for some reason, after a few days of employment I felt a little intimidated by the principle that hired me and by some of the staff members. I realized that the principle at that time and a few staff members put forth effort in trying to be intimidating. The other reason I was timid was because I was in a Christian school, and I guess I thought everyone there was perfect. I also thought they would be kind, generous, and helpful in every Godly way, but boy was I wrong. Some of them didn’t even act like what I call an “Earthen Angel”. I do remember thinking that working in a Christian school would be like being in paradise. How quickly did the warning alarm go off I can’t even tell you, which proved to be a reason not to be intimidated, but at that time I was a bit naïve about what a Christian school was all about. I learned quickly that it was just like anywhere else I’ve worked or worse.

          I do feel that I’m growing into my own at this time in my life. I feel awkward saying that because I am a middle age women, but the reality of it all is that you don’t gain confidence by growing old, it takes much more than that, that’s why I’m able to write this story. From the experiences that I had on my job and in other areas of my life I’ve gained maturity and confidence in telling people what’s on my mind and confronting them at the time something has happen instead of keeping it inside of me where it just stresses the heck out of me. A person need to get things out and off their chest in order to gain and keep respect, but you also need to know when it’s necessary to speak your mind, and you need to make sure you understand what the reality of the situation is, when you’re feeling distress about something. You never want people to always patronized you or treat you like you’re ignorant all the time.

          A person with low self esteem, a person who is passive of shy or even a person with anger problems, whatever your situation may be, you need to find that positive person, spirit, or influence that will help you learn who you are and who you want to be. Someone or something, that will help you find courage, strength, confidence and your inner beauty, because if you feel beautiful on the inside you will certainly feel beautiful on the outside, because we are wonderfully and beautifully made by God.

 

Suggestions:

• Pessimism can be a self fulfilling prophesy; treat yourself with kindness and encouragement.
• Don’t overreact to a situation by undervaluing yourself, mistakes are not permanent reflections on you as a person, they’re just temporary moments in time.
• Don’t dwell only on the negatives of a problem; it can distort your view of a person or the situation.

 

Bible Verse:

Proverbs 3:6 
"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”