Your Butt Looks Great--How's Your Emotional Fitness?

by WiredBerries Editors — April 29, 2008

You workout, you eat right, you take your multivitamin--all of which help to keep your body healthy, but are you taking time for your emotional wellness as well? Medicine.net offers 12 tips to help you maintain emotional balance and reduce stress:

• Collect Friends--People who have a lot of social support are happier. If you've recently moved or are looking to build your social group, take a class or volunteer!
• Enjoy Solitude--Some call this meditation, but it doesn't have to be done in the lotus position. For example, if you spend an hour alone in the car every day, keep the radio off, and listen to your thoughts instead.
• Get Fit--Exercise lifts mood and generally enhances quality of life. Break any vicious cycles that get in the way of adding positive things like exercise to your daily routine. Booze, cigarettes, overeating, junk food, or all these together are an impediment to physical activity, and overindulging leads to more of the same. Get enough sleep; eat regular, balanced meals; and take time for relaxation as well.
• Seek Pleasure--It's easy to become consumed by your responsibilities and to neglect your own enjoyment of life. Add something positive and pleasurable to your life, do it every day, and make it permanent.
• Find a Passion--Make a list of things you want to do before you die. If your first list is uninspiring, make another one. Keep making lists and look for any recurring themes. Identifying an interest and pursuing it can develop into a rich and exciting life that you'd never imagined you'd have.
• Plan for Problems--Instead of expecting everything in your life to go smoothly--some things will, and some definitely won't--or worrying about what will happen to you if things go wrong, plan for potential problems.
• Seek Constructive Criticism--You probably are very charming--but maybe you are rubbing people the wrong way. Too much self-consciousness can paralyze you socially, but don't be oblivious to how others perceive you. The same goes for your work. Don't be afraid to ask, "Am I doing a good job?"
• Take Healthy Risks--Approach what you feel anxious about. This doesn't mean you should force yourself into terrifying situations needlessly. But if you never leave your comfort zone, your life will be all the poorer for it.
• Manage Success Well--Spreading your success around, rather than jealously guarding it, promotes better emotional health by continuing to build your sense of self-worth.
• Don't Go It Alone--Psychologists would urge just about everyone to get into therapy. None of us make it to adulthood emotionally unscathed, and there are mental health experts waiting to help you.
• Write It Down--Identify negative thoughts and write them down. Then make a second list of the things you are grateful for. Writing the negatives bleeds them of power. They become words on paper.
• Protect Yourself from 'Energy Vampires'--The Drama Queen, the Sob Sister, the Constant Talker, the Blamer--do you know any of these people? Chances are, you do. And any of them can wear you out.