As winter approaches, many of us seem to be falling into the "winter blues". It begins as a lack of motivation, then an inconsistent mood, and soon enough your attitude ends up emulating the vast dreariness outside your window. Personally, not a fan of this weather-induced mental health violation. But I, as well as you (or at least from what I know), are not in control of the weather. So how do we go about combating these "winter blues"? Most notably in my life, I've found that recognizing this darker season is approaching and setting up a plan beforehand proves to be the best method to sustaining/improving mental health during these dark months. Sadly, a plan as such requires extensive knowledge about yourself (meaning no one can give you a straight answer for how you can help yourself in this state). Some questions that may help when you're creating a plan are: How do you react to certain things? What cheers you up? How do you most like to spend your time? Are there food that alter your mood? Should you cut some things out of your life- perhaps toxic people or substances (this even meaning seemingly harmless things like caffeine)? Just like you prepare for fires, tornadoes, intruders, it's imperative that you prepare yourself for up and coming mental roadblocks. So if you're like me and winter seems to alter your mental state, I highly advise you to formulate some plan now so that when you're at breaking point you can know how to resume you're journey to a healthy mind. Some things I do in preparation for the "winter blues" include: -setting goals for myself! -getting involved in as many clubs/activities as I can handle before hand to keep myself busy -make a list of good movies to watch -find fun recipes to bake -write myself an encouraging letter to read when sad -create future plans with friends -buy lots of journals to rant in -tell my parents to force me to do things besides sitting in my room and watching Netflix I wish you the very best of luck in creating a plan if you do so! If the winter isn't the time of the year when you seem to go a tad bit insane than I highly suggest you make a plan a month or two in advance of your prospective freak out to help maintain your mental health. Good mental health is extremely important in all aspects of your life, so be sure to take care of yourself because you deserve to live a happy life!
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Life isn't about hooking up with a ton of people or getting crazy out of your mind or just trying to escape. It's about waking up with a ton of reasons to live. It's about getting into crazy adventures. It's about trying to live the most beautiful life accompanied by the most beautiful souls. And this is my third and final lesson of the summer: the recipe for a good life.
Disclaimer: "a good life" is completely subjective, but this is the concoction I found to make the most delicious life. 1. A pinch of risk. Live on the edge, but don't fall off the edge! 2. A handful of adventure. The best memories begin in the oddest of situations. You may not remember the night you went to see a movie or got dinner with someone, but, I guarantee you will have no problem remembering the nights you went cosmic bowling in some random town, walked around strange forest paths and found your new hang out spot, or when you stayed up all night so that you could bagels at 5 am. Thankfully, there are different levels of the type of adventure you can do. So if you only have an hour or so, you can always go to some old book store and explore or walk around a random area and skip down a large hill. However, if you have like a whole night you might end up in some big city eating food at a border-line shady, 24 hour, Indian restaurant. These are the crazy things you find yourself randomly smiling about in the middle of class. These are the crazy things that pretty much require a 100+ second long snapstory. These are the crazy things things that make for great stories. 3. A sprinkle of missed opportunity. Wow, thats kind of odd to insert something "bad" into a recipe for how to make a great life. "Bad" things are bound to happen, it's all in the way you look at them. In this case, you missing out on something may help 1)you appreciate the good times you've had more 2)when realizing how to prioritize your life because you may have been way more sad/less happy about ditching/missing something than wherever you ditched to. 3)you become more okay with you because no matter what you miss out on- you'll always be with yourself and finding out that no matter how hurt you are from missing something you can save yourself is the best self-encouragement you can get! 4. A dash of transparency. Be real with people. Share "you" with all the people you come in contact with! This is how strong relationships form. Yes, sometimes people won't like you for who you are- and then it's probably better just not to pursue a friendship with them. There are billions of people out there and not everyone is for everyone, but, given the odds, there will be at least one person who will accept you for being "you". 5. A splash of classy. In the midst of adventure, risk, and transparency do not forget to sophisticate your life! It's super fun to sleep outside under the stars in sweats and blankets, but its also great to balance your life out with some fancy dinners and riveting debates. If anything, I've found, besides being extremely engaging, these nights increase my ambition. It's good to see yourself in an "adult-like" type of environment- it's a glimpse at your future. And to be honest, most of these nights often end with some crazy adventure, but it is still a super great reminder your capabilities. I can have crazy outlandish fun, and I can occasionally become "adult-like". 6. A heap of laughter. IT'S LAUGHTER WE'RE AFTER! Laughter makes the world a great place. We all know about the infamous laughter induced tummy aches. Those are what I live for. If you have interacted with me, you know I am the queen of laughter and smiles. Why laugh so much? First off, its like telling the people you are with that you love the time you are having with them! And you would probably want to know if the people you're around are having a great time. Second, laughter is scientifically proven to increase overall joy in one's life. Okay, I read that on a Snapple cap in like 6th grade, so I don't know how accurate it truly is. BUT! I do believe that laughter, especially when life sucks, increases your overall satisfaction with your life. It probably has something to do with endorphins; laughing is like running, but your body doesn't hate you after (; 7. Most importantly, a heck of a lot of great people. Oh boy, I could talk for days, actually probably years, about all the great people in my life. Disclaimer 2: I am, by definition, an introvert, so I understand how pertinent alone time is and how reading alone can be just as fun as hanging out with people. But, when you really think about it, friends make life 24601x much better. Getting to see their personalities and experience all their difference is probably my favorite adventure. It's just so cool to think how unpredictable people are. It's even more cool to think about how each person has thousands of thoughts running through their head a day and majority of them are probably ones that you have never thought of before. But then within all their thoughts, it is still possibly to find similarities- things you can relate to. I love people a lot. They're probably my favorite adventure because I can hit up a cool graffiti spot 3 days a week and think this is awesome! Soon enough though, I'll be bored with the graffiti spot- people are so changing, creative, unique, complex that, at least the good ones, can almost never bore me. Slowly, but surely I'm starting to see that all these ingredients are all wonderful, but without that "heck of a lot of great people" none of the other ingredients would ever combine. So if you get anything from this, I hope it's: great people=great life. |
AuthorLife enthusiast, tea addict, Winnie the Pooh admirer who is hopelessly pursuing happiness by any and all means. Archives
April 2020
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