From time to time I like to share tips that help me in my life beyond anxiety recovery. Some of these come from lessons I learned as an anxious person. Some do not. But when I am asked if I am afraid that my anxiety might come back or that I will relapse, I can confidently say that I am not afraid of this at least in part due to these little tips that I share here and there.
Today’s tip is to do things that you love.
OK, so I won’t win any prizes for originality with this one because I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times from other people, but it is true. If you want to tend to your mental health and if you want to get good at managing the everyday stress that life can throw at you, start doing things you love on a regular basis.
For me, this means making time to do things like playing my guitar, even when I’m not so good at it. I’ve been reading more in the last few months and really enjoying that again. I like to do physical things like lift weights or go for walks and for the last couple of weeks I’ve been playing with rucking (essentially hiking and walking with a weighted backpack). I’ve even started cooking more which has been kinda relaxing and is also helping me eat better again.
It doesn’t matter what the activities are. I try different stuff all the time (more on this tomorrow). What matters is taking the time and making the effort to do the things that feed your soul and your spirit in some way. Notice I used the word effort. I did that for a reason.
We are surrounded on all sides by soul-sucking electronic devices that connect us to the endless cesspool that is the Internet. And to be honest, its far easier and takes far less energy to just scroll or mindlessly consume content without even knowing why you’re doing it. I’m guilty of that sometimes for sure. But in the end, while this takes no effort, there is also no reward.
When you take the time and make the effort to do things that you love, things that connect you to your values and bring you some measure of happiness (this does not mean unbridled joy or nirvana), you get something in return. Feelings of restlessness get replaced by feelings of peace. Agitation becomes calm. Frustration becomes satisfaction. When we make the effort to really connect with who we are and what we value, good things happen on a mental and emotional level.
I know that if I get caught up in bad habits where I’m scrolling all the time and staring mindlessly at screens too much, I start to feel it. My mood drops, I get a little short tempered, and I just start to feel generally uneasy and even a bit anxious. This is my signal to snap out of those bad habits, slow down, and return to the things I really love. Wouldn’t you know it, after a day or two, I’m usually feeling much better, and that’s not an accident.
I have to remind you that none of this is an anxiety cure or a shield against the anxiety issues you may be facing now. But when we aim at this goal and move toward the things we love, we get a positive return on our investment that makes everything just a little bit easier and smoother.
I know, right now you may be thinking that you are not even sure what you love any more. We’ll talk about that tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Hey it’s Monday and that means that today at 2 PM Eastern I’ll do my “Recovery Monday” livestream on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Come join in!
81. Post Recovery Tips: Do Things You Love