Humans need social connections for good emotional health. Sharing truthful ideals, concerns and fears with others helps to keep your mind fit and healthy. Psychologists say that trusted relationships with friends can be a great source of strength for mental fitness.  On the other hand, speaking about things that are untruthful is unhealthy and can lead to the loss of a friendship or a potential associate. Restrain yourself from talking about things that may or may not be relevant, factual or truthful.
W. Clement Stone said, “Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.” Sharing truth in conversation is healthy for the mind. When you talk to someone who understands you well and who can support you whenever you need it, you feel better. Satisfying relationships with family and friends and their emotional support helps keep your mind fit and healthy.
Below are some suggestions to help you avoid negative thoughts that lead to an unfit and unhealthy mind.
• Stop thinking only of bad things, get rid of your fears, try to be an optimist and avoid discussing negative topics.
• Try walking every day or as often as possible. Walking outdoors can greatly improve your mood and helps you to keep fit and healthy, thus making you a little bit happier.
• Spend time outdoors at least an hour a day doing something. At LHP’s Westview Towers, the residents have garden plots behind the building. They have discovered that gardening can divert their mind from troubling thoughts to more joyful ones.
• Music is one of my favorite things to enjoy whenever I need a lift from anxiety. Sometimes it’s classical or soulful or just a slow and calming melody which helps me to relax and feel good.
• Don’t watch bad news on TV all the time. This can make you depressed and unhappy.
There is an intriguing story in the bible about Legion, a man who had many evil things going on in the confines of his mind; so much so, that he was barred from his community. The leadership of that community had him chained to a tombstone in the graveyard where night and day he “cried and cut himself with stones.” In isolation, he had no friends to comfort him and no family to show empathy or support. Even his suicidal attempts were ignored.  And so, each day he tried taking his life until one special day he had an encounter with the Lord. This biblical story has it that Legion’s encounter with the Lord transformed his mind because when the people of his community observed him later he was “sitting at the Lord’s feet, in his right mind.” So Never Give Up! Never Give Up! Never Give Up!

By Chaplain Ghosten

chaplain@lhp.net

In life, often times it is easy to get caught up praising one’s own self-worth and forgetting about those who are given no praise for the passionate work they perform. Ushers and volunteers come to mind of people as those [...]