5 Key Areas of Life To Keep Balanced

Finding life too hectic and unrewarding? 

There are 5 key areas in our lives we can aim at keeping balanced to really help us regain a sense of wellbeing. When we achieve balance in our lives we can lead from a place of peace and good health.

1.Physical –To be physically well we need to hydrate our bodies by drinking plenty of water, eat a nutritious diet, and get regular exercise and get an adequate amount of sleep.  Our minds and bodies cannot function at their peak if we are dehydrated, tired, overweight and depressed.  Being physically fit has an impact on our self-esteem.  When we practice healthy habits we will begin to look good and feel good.

2.Psychological – We can form some really good habits like reading books, gaining an education to help us grow or doing something new with our lives that will help others. When we don’t take care of ourselves by engaging in impulsive or risk taking behaviours it can have an impact on our mental health. Trying to block our problems is not the way to deal with them. We really need to face our issues.  When we try to cover our upsets with; sex, social media, gambling, drugs, alcohol or any other type of substance abuse to help us cope we can develop a habit or addiction.  The problem will remain only to resurface in the future repetitively until we deal with it.  That’s how we are hardwired. A big advantage some people have is that they know themselves really well.  To do that we can start journaling to help us gain some clarity. Just like keeping a diary, we can begin by jotting down our likes, our dislikes, our best qualities and improvements we can make for our lives.  We can also jot down things that happen to us and how it makes us feel.   Take notes of your actions as well as your feelings, e.g. How did I react? Did I over react? Did I react at all? Taking responsibility for our own mental health may mean visiting a mental health professional for support to learn new coping strategies for improving our emotional health.

3.Relationships – Life can get so hectic sometimes that we can begin pulling away from going out, visiting friends and from investing in fostering good relationships. But humans are social by nature and when we become social we create networks of support.  The key here is to connect with others to make sure you’re not alone.  Social isolation works against mental health.  Be quick to forgive others and to forgive ourselves. We also need to ask ourselves if the friendships we keep are good for our mental health.  The bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”  Prov. 27:17. The family home provides children with foundational learning about relationships and it is where we first get to practice social interaction with others. Kids also need social interaction with others outside of the home to help them develop their social skills and for establishing relationships

4.Work/Study – Whether our work is physical or sedentary in nature we can develop a bad habit of job done and dusted by skipping our lunch breaks.  By neglecting ourselves we are on a sure road to depression, anxiety, stress and burnout. When we are too busy working we can lose sight of so many things.  Regular breaks are necessary for us to refresh and come back to the work feeling energised.

5.Spirituality – As Christians we need to walk in our faith and read our bibles. Take part in regular prayer and have a relationship with Christ.  Fellowship with other Christians is important for keeping our social life with like-minded people that can help to build us up or provide support when we need it. Honouring God with all aspects of our lives means to look after our bodies, our minds and spiritual life. The bible gateway provides online bibles.

Sandra Ciminelli
Cred.Dip.Couns.(Christian)