The other day I managed to eat 3 spicy potato chips before my 15 month old daughter caught me, and held out her hand for some. Because they were spicy I was trying to eat them without her seeing as she cannot have them. Clearly I was not hidden by our pantry door enough.
My munchies weren’t satisfied, but I popped the chips away and distracted my daughter with a snack she could have instead, happy that she was happy.
And happiness is something that takes precedence here. There is a huge focus on our society’s mental health these days which is fantastic.
Something that resonated with me this month about mental health was how the term resilience is used. I read an article about how resilience is usually used in terms of overcoming something negative, but should also be noted as giving room to experience positivity.
Positivity like our happiness!
Here are a couple of ways you can form resilience in your life:
1. Some routine in your life is good – it could be a few things you consistently do in the morning to wake up, or that always do to wind down at night. For me it is always washing my face with water, and putting on moisturiser and sunscreen. Those 3 little things make me feel so fresh for the day.
2. Have a break. Taking scheduled breaks throughout your day resets you, physically and/or mentally. It stops your attention form wandering when you are focused. Don’t skip your lunch break at work if you are not hungry for instance – do something other than work, to restore you for the afternoon ahead.
3. The other kind of break that needs to be addressed all the time – sleep. This is hard, and as a parent I really REALLY understand that now. Get what you can, when you can, and if possible try and get it during the nocturnal hours when your circadian rhythm will energise you the most for the following day.
4. Do what you do with intent. You become resilient by considering what has meaning for you, and what you put meaning into. Bonus points for recognising what positive attributes these things do for you – did the action make you optimistic? Hopeful? Grateful?
5. Discover your kind of organisation. It helps managed stress, so if you need to organise that particular cupboard, schedule those business tasks, list that shopping, do it. And do it to the level you want, not what everyone else’s perfect looking cleaning TikTok’s