Some of my favorite sayings are about mindset – attitude is everything, life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it (Charles Swindoll), and of course the lyrics (Johnny Mercer) many of us know from The Jungle Book movie – ‘accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-between’.
How’s your attitude these days? Your mindset is critical, as that impacts your physical health and well-being, with which we are all very concerned right now. Many people are trying to heed the current recommendations in order to protect ourselves and those around us. Thanks to everyone for your efforts.
In case you didn’t know, there are ways to bolster your immunity. This is nothing new and is something health care professionals have known for a long time. However, it seems uninteresting to many people. The path to good health is through the basics: eat a wide variety of healthy, whole foods (and don’t overeat), engage in regular physical activity, manage/minimize your stress, don’t smoke (or vape), use alcohol in moderation or not at all, and get adequate sleep. These behaviors have always been the best way for you to take care of your body.
It might be a good time to focus on creating a positive attitude about our own circumstances, whatever they may be right now, so that we can not only survive, but begin to thrive. Viewing the changes in our routines as positive opportunities instead of negative disruptions is a great start and many people are doing just that. What a great time to learn to make your own meals (simple is great), see what your body can do with some regular movement (inside or out depending on your own situation), practice some new or different stress relieving activities, and enjoy a good book, phone conversation, or time with immediate family. And work hard to ensure adequate sleep, which is essential for optimum health and restoration.
Your best defense is a good offense – arm your body for good physical and mental health through practicing these basic healthy behaviors. It isn’t difficult to do, but you have to want to do it. You can’t buy it though, you actually have to DO it, and this is where your can-do attitude comes in. I can’t think of a better impetus for improving our own health than our current situation.
Give the hard-working health care professionals and other essential service providers YOUR best effort – take better care of yourself so that they can take care of others and, hopefully, of themselves.
What a great gift that would be!
