Health: Train for Life

Many people jump on the Get Fit for Summer Band Wagon to prepare for that swimsuit ready body or simply to just feel better when putting on those shorts and nice summer shirts again. That is a great goal and something definitely to look forward to and to work towards, however, we shouldn't just want to train for summer. We want to train for Life.

We want to train in all areas of life from physical to mental to spiritual to emotional well-being. How are we becoming a better and healthier version of ourselves on a daily basis to last us a lifetime? How are we incorporating small changes that are compounding in our life to make positive impacts over the course of our life. Some things are out of our control. That is ok. We can work with that and be mentally prepared through resiliency knowing that we will need to be flexible and be solution seeking when the unexpected happens. We need to get to that point first!

What are some ways we can train for life? Some ways we have incorporated training in our life have been:

Physical:

1. Exercise -

Whether it's yoga, meditation, sports, walking, hiking, biking, or just something we wanted to do that was fun and incorporated in what we were doing that day. It may even be painting the house or mowing the lawn that day, but as long as there have been 30-40 minutes of exercise at least 3-4 days a week that is a great start.

2. Eating a balanced and nutritious diet. We try to avoid high sugary, processed foods as much as we can. Yes we eat them, but we cook at home more often than not and make things from scratch most of the time so we can control what we put in our food and our body. We meal prep and plan a menu to help with grocery shopping, time management, and budgeting.

3. Avoid risky behavior such as smoking or drinking excessively. Risky behaviors are just that - they place you at a higher risk for health conditions or injuries.

Mental:

1. Rest. We try to get plenty of rest and balance our stress as much as possible. As you can imagine this is always a work in progress and seems to be the one thing that we usually need to work on the most. The needs and priorities of the world can often dictate more on you than what it should resulting in increased demands and stress. Reflection can help you look back and reflect on priorities, re-evaluate what is really important, re-adjust to manage stress, and prioritize what has to be done now and what can wait until tomorrow. Creating lists has also helped to alleviate mental stress to just get it off the mind and on to paper for later recollection.

2. Counseling. Sometimes it is nice to go and seek counseling whether it's for advice from a mentor or for a spruce up on yourself or relationship. We all have things to work on and things we can make better. We all have things we can become aware of and counseling is a great way to talk through things in a neutral and safe environment.

3. Personal Growth: continued learning and growing through personal growth audio, education, books, etc. Continue reading, learning, and growing. Never Stop! There is always something to learn and research. It is better to learn at least one new thing a day than waste one hour watching a tv show that has taught you nothing but what the latest drama is.

Spirituality:

1. We attend our Church service and volunteer there as well and find that spiritually fulfilling to help others. Building our relationship with God as well as blessing others through Him is amazing for us.

2. Being nurses, we are also able to use the gifts that God has provided us to do His work and help others through Him and that is also spiritually rewarding to help people not only physically get better, but to help them on a holistic level as well.

3. Daily Devotional or Audio. Listening to something or reading the Bible or something scriptural on a daily basis helps you stay connected and on the path. It helps you stay in sync and helps you continue to feel your purpose and feel connected.

4. Pray as a family. We like to pray as a family as we sit down to eat together and at night before bed. We like to instill this habit into our kids and hope that they will continue their relationship with God in this way once they are on their own and have their own families.

5. Being in nature really helps me personally become more spiritual. I really feel closer to God in nature and amazed at how beautiful the world is in all the wonder around me!

Emotional:

1. Have fun with whatever you do. If you find the positive and the fun in what you are doing you enjoy it and look forward to it.

2. Stay positive and find those silver linings. Avoid negativity. Remaining positive will help you remain emotionally lighter and avoid getting pulled into that negative circle. Don't let others steal your joy.

3. Find your purpose and act on it. Do what you are meant to do. Don't do something because others expect you to do it. Do what you are called to do - what God has put in your heart as your purpose or calling to do.

4. While it's great to help and care for others, make time for self-care. Care for yourself as well. Get a massage, take a nap, get a pedicure, or do something that you enjoy for you once in awhile. You deserve it as well.

5. Don't be afraid to express yourself. Talk through what is going on, how you feel and know that how you feel is ok. We may not always be right, we may not always be wrong in how we feel. We are entitled to feel how we feel and we are free to talk about it and express it to those we care about in a respectful way. We may grow emotionally through constructive feedback as well and personal growth emotionally. Life will happen. We will learn from things we go through or we will not - it is our choice. Hopefully we learn and grow.

6. Journal. Try writing down thoughts or feelings regarding what happened throughout the day or thoughts for the future in a journal to help sort through emotional feelings that come up. You may find that it is very therapeutic and an objective way to come back later to see how you may feel about that subject later on after you've had time to think on it.

These are just a few ways to help train for life. We hope these have helped give you some ideas and we value your feedback as well. Please comment below with some training ideas that have helped you train for life below! We'd love to hear from you!