Sunday, August 18, 2013

Good Brain health starts with...

It looks like it has been forever since I last blogged on here.   Time flies for sure.    I think I am going to start a series of blog posts on what good brain health looks like for me.    It is not what I have learned, but what I am currently learning.   If we are not learning and being stretched in life by someone or something, we probably aren't growing.  Life is a process for me of adjusting and changing to learn what is healthy for my repaired brain. 

I have been realizing how I must exercise on a regular basis.   It is not an optional thing, yet I have always treated it that way.  I knew I should for reasons like losing weight, eating healthy, etc.; however, I never believed it to be mandatory for my brain.   I am finding that to remain healthy and functioning to the best it can, my brain really needs it.  I am learning to change from the mindset of "just losing weight" to a different thought process of how it is vital for my emotional, spiritual, and mental well being.   

I think my view before was to look at it as a chore or such a negative thing.  At one time, I was exercising just for behavior modification instead of lifestyle change for the long term.  I am now focusing on how much healthier it makes me feel emotionally, and that it can't be just for the short term.  Most of us can do or change anything  just for a season.   It is vital for my brain's health to make the small yet intentional steps to change some deep rooted life long patterns.   

So far in the last month, slow progress has been made.  Someone told me  recently that it's not a sprint, but a gradual process of growing and stretching.   This applies to not only an exercise program, but really to life in general.   It reminds me of the quote I once heard from Chuck Swindoll that says "God wants to use you, stumbling and all....but he can't do so if you refuse to get up!"  

What deep rooted patterns in your life are you wanting to change?