“I used to be a guy who was experiencing the world, and now I feel like the world and the universe experiencing a guy.” – Jim Carrey

An interesting, yet possibly obvious concept that not only tremendously aroused significant curiosity and contemplation for me, but also took years for me to fully grasp and additionally allow to manifest and implement itself into my daily health routines, was the notion whatever goes on in the mind, plays out somewhere in the body, and vice versa. Mental health and physical health both dictate the status of each other. It’s important to understand that deficiencies in either consequently affect your overall well-being, and it’s not just exclusive to just mental health or just physical health.

Quite often when considering health, there lies a common thought of there being an apparent distinction between mind and body, and it can be truly detrimental to a person’s health to consider them as separate and to emphasize importance of one more than the other. Many people fall into the conflict of maintaining one or the other while simply neglecting the other, which subsequently causes inevitable negative outcomes and complications. It’s no secret that what occurs within the mind reflects in the body in some way or another. In my experiences, I’ve found that when I’m under immense stress and pressure mentally, I begin to lose weight and my sleep routines become immensely disrupted. This example is a pretty straightforward one as far as conceptualizing the relevance of simultaneous nourishment of both mental and physical conditions, however it’s undeniably a personalized experience for every individual.

I understand that it’s difficult for some to find motivation and energy to maintain overall health, and something I’ve found useful for my own experiences that I feel may be relevant for others is that I simply push myself to do at least one thing every day that’s positive for my mental health, and concurrently make sure I do at least one thing that’s good for my physical health. I try to continue this routine until I decide I can expand my efforts for both, and as time passes and I feel my overall condition has improved, it becomes nearly effortless to maintain a routine and keep myself well.

It most definitely is important to go to work, to go to school, to pay bills, to do whatever it is you need to do to continue on with your life and move in the direction you want to go. I’d advise to you though that it’s far more important to take care of yourself and to make sure you’re doing well and that you’re content with life, because I understand how easy it is to become so engulfed in your careers or your day-to-day lives that you feel that you lose time to take care of yourself. It does take a certain level of effort to keep up with yourself, but it’s truly important to make sure you do so to ensure you live a life you’re satisfied with.

“Many people are alive, but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Think back and reflect on all that you’ve done today, perhaps not just in the past day, but in the past week, or the past month even. What events or experiences that you’ve had stand out significantly over that period of time for you? It’s absolutely going to be different for every individual, and no matter what experiences we decide are valuable to us, we’re able to genuinely say there was a time where we enjoyed breathing air and basking in the extraordinary, yet subtle awe of simply being alive. Whether you’ve felt there was something you’ve experienced that you mildly appreciated, or another occurrence that had left you bewildered, there are times in our lives that we think back to which substantiate the idea that there was a significant event that enriched our own experiences of being alive.

Whether it’s that first sip of coffee in the morning, or the memory of overlooking the vastness of the sea on a quiet breezy afternoon, there’s small moments in life that somehow strike us in the most astounding and even somewhat startling ways. I sometimes have to mentally take a step back from living within certain moments just to conceptualize the overwhelming astonishment of either happiness or contentment any given situation may bring to me. It’s often unpredictable in nature for me, but I can honestly say there have been a substantial multitude of memorable experiences and occasions that continue to bewilder me even today as I reminisce.

Lately I’ve been working diligently on a new cognitive strategy to make sure that I am present in all that I do throughout my day-to-day activities. For example, when I’m at work, I keep my full focus on my work, or when I’m messaging or calling anyone, I give them my full attention and stay present in the conversation. Also when I’m traveling, I maintain complete interest and take the time to absorb and truly appreciate the moments and experiences I find myself in. It’s incredibly gratifying to be where you are and experience your life in depth as you go along, in contrast to constantly worrying about what events will be happening later, or ruminating too much about being somewhere else. Not to say daydreaming or longing to be at the beach or something isn’t refreshing and motivating, but personally I’ve found it to be quite beneficial for both my mental health and overall emotional contentment to “live in the moment”, and to live my life in search of those moments that make me feel alive.

“If you can get over this initial distrust that people have of strangers, you can do remarkable things” – Pierre Omidyar

We’ve all found ourselves in a situation at some point or another where we’ve encountered an unusually chatty stranger, whether it be excessive small talk or startlingly personal discussions, and honestly it can be a bit of an uncomfortable or a subtly astonishing experience. Everyone comes from all sorts of different backgrounds and present themselves in a variety of different personas they’ve developed throughout whatever path led up in their life to the moment they ended up speaking to you, and for some it may seem a bit socially repelling to interact with someone with a complex personality with seemingly little to no filter. The question I suppose I’m asking here is, why do people normally feel unsettled by this?

This is a question I’ve pondered after not only my own experiences, but with other strangers telling me strangely personal information as well, but I start to wonder if there’s any reason to be uncomfortable. In the larger perspective, we’re all similar in the sense that we’re all humans sharing the same world going through infinitely diverse experiences, so why should it be weird to open up to another person? While there certainly is a time and a place for all of that, I absolutely support the idea that people are more than welcome to be open with me about whatever they feel comfortable sharing. Sometimes there’s a strange comfort in confiding in a stranger or distant friend considering they have little to no connection with anything else in your life, and there’s probably a good chance you’ll never run into that stranger again, so what’s the harm in venting frustrations a bit?

Everyone wants to be heard by someone, and while it varies from person to person, I think it’s absolutely beautiful when people, strangers or not, can come together and skip over the surface small talk and just say what they really feel or open up about what’s going on in their lives. The sincerity and genuine aspect of the human condition is something that’s become a bit of a taboo in socializing, and while I’m not suggesting you speak to anyone and everyone like they’re your therapist, I do believe that it’s incredibly generous to give someone the time of day to listen to whatever it is they’ve got going on.

It’s an obscure idea I’ve had and thought about from time to time, and I still sometimes think about strangers I’ve met at airports, taxi drivers, people I’ve sat next to on the bus or in classes, etc, and the things they’ve told me that I felt were meaningful in the overall scheme of self-expression of our humanity and personal emotions. It’s definitely food for thought, and to be utilized in moderation I suppose.

“In the absence of willpower, the most complete collection of virtues and talents is wholly worthless.” – Aleister Crowley

I personally believe there’s quite a lot to be considered when it comes to mental positivity and well-being. Whether it be fabricated optimism or learned, I feel that there is importance for anyone to hold onto sudden or gradual optimistic episodes and feelings in order to form a more overall positive mindset. People have many different ways of coping and comforting themselves whether it be religion, spirituality, or just simple routine to keep everything in check and stable. Personally I enjoy recharging by being out in nature or going on long walks to clear my head, and I habitually meditate at home to stay sane and at peace, especially during stressful times in my life. Belief and willpower are strong tools for anyone to have, and can absolutely assist in comfortably dealing with day-to-day obstacles and overall well-being. I feel that even placebo (not even necessarily medications, but fabricated thoughts and ideas) can have quite an effect on people, in a sense that it doesn’t necessarily give them what they need to be okay and happier, but it can give them the motivation to believe that they are, which subsequently can lead to a rise of overall mood and lifestyle.

Mental willpower is an incredible force that anyone can take upon themselves in some way or another, and keeping that in mind, it’s important to not become so blissfully delusional and forget all other aspects of humanity. It’s absolutely effective to stay optimistic, but also keep negativity in check by acknowledging that it’s there and to not let it eat at you. A moderate balance is healthy, and it’s always good to keep yourself in check from time to time. I sometimes become concerned with myself when I become too blissful about seemingly everything, and I find that it’s often due to simply ignoring negativity or stress, which in itself is probably a much bigger problem than actually dealing with those issues. I’d advise anyone that while seeking happiness, acknowledge the difficulties as well, but don’t let them influence your well-being or your thoughts too much.

The majority of responsibilities that I’m faced with in life, as any other person would feel, can be quite draining and even slightly intimidating if it’s something new and foreign to me. For me what’s always worked is to sort of expect that whatever it is I’m going into will turn out successful and will be okay, and in my experience, that often that ends up being the case. I’m not really insinuating that you can fabricate or manifest any sort of success just by simply thinking about it, but honestly half the battle is truly believing that you can do whatever it is you’re faced with, and at the end of the day, you’ll be able to say you made it through.