Your One Wild and Precious Life — 10 Steps to Making it Better

This is not a dress rehearsal. This is your lIfe. How’s it going so far?

Are you content, relaxed, grateful, productive and connected? If not, read on.

1) Get your House in Order

Do you have a habit or hobby that is affecting your relationships? Take a second look at the role alcohol, drugs, sex, unhealthy relationships and shopping play in your life. Have friends or family expressed concern about your hoarding, gambling or over-exercising?

Is everything in balance? The rest of the goals on this list won’t help much if you are held hostage by a compulsion.

A new book, "Chasing the Scream" challenges the disease model of addiction. "Chasing the Scream" posits that recovery involves creating and maintaining secure social bonds. Fortunately, secure social attachments are the foundation of 12-step programs.

For a thorough list of 12-step programs, read here.

If you have lost control, designate 2015 as the year to take your life back.

2) Shop the Outside Aisles

Food in the outside aisles of the grocery store is generally healthier, less expensive and less processed. Zoom down the freezer aisles for frozen veggies and down the canned food aisle when you need some enchilada sauce or honey. But make the snack, soda and prepared foods aisles off limits.

If you’re too busy to cook, you’re too busy. Simple, healthy, homemade meals are the foundation of a healthy life.

3) Murder Your Credit Cards

Research has shown that we spend more when we use credit cards than when we use cash. Be the boss of your money, avoid high interest rates and find the comfort and stability that comes from living within your means.

Find out the truth about credit card debt at DaveRamsey.com.

4) Walk out the Door

According to The World Health Organization, inactivity is the 4th leading cause of death worldwide, contributing to an estimated 3.2 million deaths annually. Even if you exercise 30 minutes a day, if you spend the rest of the day sitting, you are ruining your health.

Take a look at some persuasive graphics here.

Several studies reported here by Forbes show that standing desks improve your health. The British Journal of Sports Medicine, reports that standing may lengthen your telomeres..

Consider a standing desk, taking frequent breaks and exercising during lunch. Even better, persuade your co-workers to join you in a few minutes of group exercise throughout the day.

5) Do What You Love

Somewhere in your house, in a closet or diary entry or box in the attic, is a symbol of what you really love. Is it a tray of water color paints, an old flute or transcripts from a degree you never finished? Recommit to a past pursuit that brought you joy.

6) Make Punctuality a Priority

Chronic lateness causes stress for everyone involved. If you have a difficult time arriving at appointments, dates and meetings on time, chances are you're going through life flustered and anxious.

Psychologist Linda Sapadin, Ph.D., quoted in this WebMd article stated, "You’re creating a reputation for yourself, and it's not the best reputation to be establishing. People feel they can't trust you or rely on you, so it impacts relationships. It also impacts self-esteem."

Make your concept of “on time” actually 10 minutes early. Arriving on time shows others that you value their time and reduces your own stress. If you need a punctuality makeover, here’s a website just for you: Lateness.org.

7) Go to Sleep

Like a healthy diet, proper sleep is essential. According to this article at Longevity.com, sleep promotes heart health, prevents depression, reduces stress and inflammation, and may help you lose weight. Sweet dreams!

8) Spice it Up

Variety is the spice of life. Take a different route to work. Apply for a job you would love but aren’t sure you’re qualified for.

Strike up conversations with strangers. Leave your cell phone at home. Save a week’s worth of coffee money and take a road trip this weekend.

9) Detox from Toxic People

Chronically unkind people not only hurt your feelings, they hurt your health. Research reported in this EmpowHer article shows that negative relationships put people at greater risk for heart disease, including fatal cardiac events.

Start by setting and enforcing healthy boundaries with a difficult friend. If someone continually disrespects your requests for distance, and you regularly leave their presence depressed and drained, you may need to end the relationship.

If your relationship with a toxic parent is complicated by your religious beliefs, read this article which explores the 4th Commandment and abusive parents.

10) Read

You cleaned up your body, your routine and your relationships. Now feed your mind.

According to a recent Huffington Post article, reading improves cognition, increases relaxation and may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Start by reading the poem "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver.

To quote the poet, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Sources:

What happens to your body when you walk? prevention.com. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
http://www.prevention.com/fitness/fitness-tips/science-walking

Finding the Motivation to Change Your Entire Life. ZenHabits.net. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
http://zenhabits.net/life-changing

Negative Aspects of Close Relationships and Heart Disease.
JamaInternalMedicine.com. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=413183

Reviewed January 27, 2015
by Michele Blackberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith

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Tags:

• Stress
• Adult Living
• Emotional Health
• Financial Health
• Fitness
• Healthy Eating
• Holistic Health
• Relationships & Family
• Wellness