The Process of Creating a Healthy Lifestyle

By Dr Michael J Hammes Ph D, Michael Hammes

The Process of Creating a Healthy Lifestyle
Preview available
We live with the mindset about living in relation to what we expect from life, and then we spend a lot of time and energy learning how to be successful in making money and having what we call fun. However, few people learned how to manage day to day stressors, and also the extreme stress that occurs during painful stressful life changing events. More importantly, very few people have the ability to create real meaning, and purpose that leads to hope and a bright hopeful future. We need to approach life with what life expects from us. The latter statement implies that we have the ability to learn how to create real meaning and purpose during the everyday living process. More importantly, during times of personal crisis because this is when most people fail to create real meaning and purpose and become vulnerable to poorly managed intense painful feelings and emotions. Often the result is a life falling apart at the seams, and engaging in any destructive behavior that provides some form of relief. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know this method of pain relief is not a solution to life problems. Life falls apart and becomes disordered when we are unable to create meaning of life changing events, which is caused by a flawed thinking process. A major challenge in life is to create the right solution for our problem(s), but this requires a creative thinking process that few possess. The healthy lifestyle is rare today because individuals often sacrifice loving relationships, lose their sense of self in their pursuit of happiness, and this will always lead to emotional problems. Life then gets out of balance and one will experience big life stressors. There are a lot of people living with a lot of psychological discomfort and the only thing they know is to medicate it. The important things in life are loving relationships that begin with loving oneself. Love is the cornerstone for creating real meaning and purpose, and a very strong reason to live. Ignoring the important things as love and loving relationships, creates painful feelings and emotions that create an empty life experience. We then go through the motions of living, and this is the beginning of a full blown dysfunctional life, and we do this all in the name of success! On the other hand, one can change their dysfunctional life to a healthy life by learning how to create an effective thinking process that can result in developing an effective personal philosophy. This creates our view of the world, our reality, and we make decisions according to our reality. This view must always be fine-tuned if one is to effectively navigate through the stress and strains of living, and to grow spiritually. Otherwise, we wander aimlessly without direction, purpose and meaning, and are prone to make bad decisions that lead to more painful experiences. This then becomes a life never lived and the creation of the accidental lifestyle. Few people are able to engage in this process of creating a healthy life because this process of change is dependent upon living with an effective thinking process and most people live with a flawed thinking process. Healthy means creating healthy boundaries, having the right to say no; managing your time; having healthy hobbies; have time to spend with love ones; and having time to take care of you. An individual living with these qualities will have more time, energy and love to give to others, and thus, get more love and attention in return. The spin off benefits; include lasting meaning; significant loving relationships; passion; fun and enjoyment; and these qualities as a whole create hope and a healthy vision. We can learn to experience these, but only if one can create an effective thinking process. What kind of life do you want?

Book Details