there's just this massive ache in my chest that won't go away and I can't stop crying

okay its 4am here and i guess what better time to express how chronically online i am through homestuck gender, sexuality and mental stuff headcanons of mine *smile*

okay im gonna start off with the beta kids and trolls of course, probably will not go into the alpha trolls as i do not really know a lot or care a lot about them

one disclaimer, i dont see most of this shit as canon and this doesnt mean i dont believe or even dislike other headcanons, i love seeing all different headcanons and really use and see everyones headcanons of everything, so this isnt saying my headcanons are the ONLY way i see and interpret these characters its just how i see them without an outside influence so dont come after me like omg hes gay and trans.. IDGAF!!! HE IS GAY AND TRANS !!!!!! IDC IF I SAID HES CISHET AND YOU THINK HES GAY AND TRANS.. ME TOO i think everything, these are just my like, personal thoughts about the characters, i genuinely like and use all headcanons though

John: um i am a john/june coexistence believer so i will be going over both. I think john is defo straight okay like idk dont ask i wont be explaining like he just feels cishet to me dont get me wrong I love LOVE johndave but you cant look at john fucking egbert and tell me he is gay im sorry, and june is defo a transbian, thats all shes just a girly who likes girls. as for mental stuff both of them, I see personally having autism DEFINITELY and slight adhd

Dave: oh my god BI DAVE IS REAL. dave is one million percent bi no gender lean,but was ashamed of it for a while because he was scared to be gay cause he grew up thinking gay was something wrong, but eventually came to terms with it. i can see dave as cis or transmasc really they both fit very well to me. dave has to me, obv depression, but i think like a panic disorder because of his brother, some stuff brings him back, and while i feel the bro dave stuff wasnt as severe as the fandom makes it out to be, it still was pretty fucked up, and dave is still just as fucked up over it, a lot of the time its more self worth stuff wondering why his brother was such a dick to him blahblahbalh whatever you get what im saying, i also feel as if like, not a mental disorder thing but he tries to get attention from everyone he can because of the attention his childhood lacked and he is really scared and insecure anyways take all this as you will

Rose: ok rose augh bi rose is real,,, BUT she is SO SO SO female leaning, like shes like i like girls butttttttt there are a few men i will ... look at and want for. I think shes nonbinary demigirl, she/they but doesnt mind whichever set of pronouns you use. i think she has like pretty bad depression and struggles a lot with derealization and things in that area. i can also see her definitely having some form of autism

Jade: okay jade i see as cis and bi with no lean, i have no further explanation, while i see her as having bpd it presents itself way differently than usually associated with the stereotype for someone with bpd. this coming from being alone her whole life and feeling abandoned by everyone around her, because she might feel like shes the only one who puts effort into caring and is still left alone in the end maybe im projecting lalal youll never know !  i see her also having severe severe depression but tries to suppress it to make sure no one worries, she also has really bad add and some slight form of autism.

OK now onto beta trolls (warning a lot of these r gonna be bi headcanons oppsy)

Aradia: okay.... im not sure how to go about this one since i am aradia lol but uhh ill just go ahead and describe how i see myself i suppose? so I am cis girl she/her, bi with a pretty heavy female lean, ok if anyone wants I will go further in depth with this one but i have bpd and hpd which are both very similar but have some distinct differences xD anyways I also have some form of autism and have add, i struggle really really badly with depression along with derealization and depersonalization, this is all, umm as a little added thing I subscribe to catholicism but am kind of shitty at practicing it, but i still do hold some of their beliefs to myself

Tavros: transmasc absolutely cant fight me on this one, um also bi with a male lean, I think he struggles with an anxiety/panic disorder, and has autism + depression.. he also has dependent personality disorder REAL bad.. umm dont have a lot to say on this one LMAO 

Sollux: sigh everyones gonna kill me sollux can be cis to me......... if I want, but I also like trans headcanons of him? so idrk how i see him lel, hes definitely bi with a female lean. um he has bipolar.. canon so thats one, but I can also see him having aspd noo ren dont make him evil having aspd doesnt make you evil these are my headcanons so they will make sense to me differently than they will to you haha and he has depression

Karkat: transmasc karkat real ooouhhh scary ghost noise also bi with male lean, he so obviously has a panic disorder and ptsd, I also think he struggles with depression real, and like lol.. anger issues ok thats all i have to sat for him too ah oopsie a lot of these are gonna be depression but thats a given cause.. really who isnt depressed anymore?

Nepeta: BRAH okay listen nepeta isnt like.. not cis but she isnt not nonbinary!!!?!!?!?! like to describe it shes like nonbinary with she/her prns like shes just this little girl that breaks gender norms all day if u feel me? shes bi with a slight female lean but no real preference i think she defo has autism and adhd, but also struggles really bad with depression from how lonely she is

Kanaya: lesbian 100000000000% does not like men LOL um honestly she/her cis, she has depression and bpd shh shh everyone who is mad for my bpd diagnoses close your eyes, ok this is all

Terezi: cis girl and bi with a male lean, i think she has depression really bad and dependent personality disorder but it only starts showing outwardly later within the comic after all the stuff .... with her goes down

Vriska: transfemme bi with no lean, ok ahh this is not really a lot to unpack but it is? idk vriska though her personality seems like the posterboy for fucking bpd and people might say that gives people with bpd a bad reputation to be associated with her, as someone with medically diagnosed bpd i just dont agree, if the shoe fits... its probably for a reason, anyways vriska has the absolute most convincing and fitting title of bpd of any character within homestuck, but she also fits within depression in my opinion, but thats really a result of her bpd and stuff with her lusus driving people away anyways i can also see her having npd

Equius: brah gonna be honest equius straight but bicurious and transmasc, wants to be strong because of his rage stuff but also because hes insecure about not being cis and wants to be as “manly” as possible, nepeta always tries to convince him he doesnt have to be strong to be a man but hes so insecure it doesnt matter what she says. I think he personally struggles HORRIBLY with gender dysphoria and what trans person doesnt? but him especially, it makes him badly depressed and he wont admit it, I also think he is autistic

Gamzee: brah another cis male bi sigh he has a female lean but only a little. I think he struggles with drug induced psychosis, he started abusing substances when he was younger because he was depressed but it ended up frying his brain and making his body and mind dependent on the drugs and giving him awful psychosis issues

Eridan: cis male bi with no lean whatsoever he just wants someone to fucking love him, i think he struggles with bpd, hpd and npd along with depression ok thats all

Feferi: cis female bi large male lean, but still also likes girls a lot?? idk just kinda loves everything and everyone, has adhd really bad and autism, not depressed but sometimes has derealization episodes and doesnt know how to tell anyone and keeps them to herself

Jane: cishet, bicurious but is too ashamed to admit it because of how she was raised, i think she struggles with anger issues and some slight depression, but thats about it

Dirk: cis gay gay gay gay gay as fuck oh my god anyways i know i said cis but i can also see trans dirk real so idk, i think he has gasp! bpd, he also very much has awwwful depression

Roxy: cis bi female, male lean, deals with really really bad depression but keeps it to herself ah obviously has substance abuse issues that are to deal with the depression

Jake: cis bi male lean, on the aromantic spectrum sigh idk lel this is just what i think, he also has mega autism and also very depressed

ok these r all please dont hate me after this 💀

A Dream, Bad, and Bruh: ACTUALLY, IT'S A HEY, LOOK, GREG HAS A PURSE! E. EMBROIDERED BOOKBAG. Hehehehe, Frank Griffin here! I am here to explain this funny may-may I found while browsing through the site "r/Loded Diper", place where fellow may-may experts like me share their best funny jokes about Diary of a by Wimpy Kid, a cartoon novel written hohe other than Jeff Kinney. Now, what do have here? If youre familiar with the book, youll recognize that there is Greg Heffley the middle, the protagonist of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. In the original image, Greg stitched a purse, but called it an embroidered handbag" so he won't lose his dignity. However, it doesn't work and he gets called a girl for it. this image Now that the background has been cleared up, let's look It has been posted by u/ThatSippyChicken the 18th 2019 oh may (by UTC time). This means it's very recent, compared to the even funnier Minion memes I share with my grandkids. Greg is surrounded by two unknown teenagers. The short-haired kid the left is pointinga finger having a speech bubble over him (This implies he's saying something.). to the right (probably at Greg) and The text on the speech bubble says "HEY, LOOK, GREG HAS A", and then "EMBROIDERED BOOKBAG" below, but distorted. Greg reacts with saying "ACTUALLY, ITS ONLY A PURSE!" followed by blank space ow. The last kid with acne has a nearly empty speech bubble, only saying "E". Diary of a Wimpy Kid artstyle. Oh, Greg is holding the purse I talked about previously in the image!If you look closely, you at the end. Everything is drawn in the typical thing I forgot to mention: ohe can even see that the word "Grea" is stitched on it- IS Okay, the description of the image is over. Now, let's get the analysing part. I examined every part of the image and compared it with other maymays from around the same time and site. But then, I couldn't believe what I found out! This maymay on r/LodedDiper falls under the category of modern internet memes. You may have heard of the word from your kids, maybe grandkids, and that's because it's a Millennial (yes, the Avocado eveh toast generation. / Generation Z movement. The concept of Memes itself is too complex, Ill explain it on a seperate page, but, to be short, Memes are funny internet maymays that require Some sort of insider knowdlege to be understandable. Memes are very special of humour, because, unlike other funny maymays, the humour of Memes ih terms always based on either relatability or absurdity. This can be shown is this image too: The incosistency of logic and font size makes the oh absurdity of this maymay visible. The "E" has a very complex background, but it can be said that it's referencing another modern Meme. This absurd humour combined with what used to be a page from a normal cartoon hovel is what makes this maymay funny. When I realized this, I had to LOLWHMWADCC (Laughing Out Loud While Hitting Manny With A Diet Coke Condom)! explain why I chose exactly this maymay symbolizes the change in youth humour. At last, I need to for explanation. That's because it new generation doesn't laugh though they based on either relatability or absurdity. While this change The at Minioh maymays anymore (even very funny., they laugh at modern memes that are dre to more complex humour can be considered a cultural step forwards, it can also be unhealthy for the kids. For example, Memes about depression and suicide, which are very popular, can make someone relating to it even depressed (The argument of these being a coping technique falls Alat here, that has been disproven). But, good or not, it's definetily more an important change in Internet, even the entirety of western culture. This Meme symbolizes the new age of humour, Meme humour. Besthany. And now, I finally explained to you what Memes are, Frank Griffin PS: If read this on r/LodedDiper, go check out the subreddit you r/ExplainItPeter! And the other way around, of course. PPS: is br ald Hehehehehehe, someone's here! No, it's not Frank Griffin (Right now he's busy explaining a Minion meme), it's not Sans Undertale (Off fighting Lugi), it's me: Peter Heffley! Who am I, you may ask? Well, I am the colleague and best buddy of the world famous Frank Griffin. Ah, now that I'm mentioning him, all the memories are flooding back. Whenever there was a cringe nae nae meme, a darn millennial or even a bruh moment, we stuck together. And after decades of friendship he eventually offered me a dream come true: A job in the Meme Explaining Laboratory! So, now I'm here explaining a few memes here and there (Frank does the over- whelming majority of them, though) and, more importantly, critically analysing his very own explanations, because nothing is perfect! (Except for stepping on a crunchy leaf.) Unlike him, I will use Arial instead of the official Wimpy Kid font, simply because this is more readable. Otherwise, my critique is pretty much the same. So, get ready for some high IQ text reading, because we're going to enter the Meme world once again! Alright, we finally got through the long introduction I now have several ways to begin the main part, but I'm honestly not sure where to. I could start with citing his first line, analysing his formatting or referenzing the pipe strip video. But I will do none of these things. Instead, I will dig straight to the core of his explanations, and praise or critique anything in the process. Ergo, I'll start with the nature of his text itself. It's, compared to the usual Internet posts, very text-heavy. However this isn't a big surprise since both of us know how much Frank can dive into a subject. He puts a photo of himself in the top left corner below the image he's analyzing, and his text is written solely in the "WimpyKid" font, which already is my first problem. It may have been suitable if it was used in a short paragraph or two, but using it in an entire explanation is a major design flaw. However, this is not the only problem I have with Frank's text, (Don't take it personally, bucko) which brings me to analyzing the content of his explanation, and his ultimate message near the bottom end. Okay, I'll be honest. I don't like the message. His main part of the analysis may have been on the better side, in comparision to his other posts, but this time Frank really shot himself in his cock and balls this time. Saying that "Meme humour is overtaking regular humour" is overly dramatizising and simply putting in a wrong light what is really going on inside the meme creation scene. Frank, I'm sorry to tell it to ya, but a near-sudden cultural shift in humour is not going to happen, pal. What is really happening is that younger kids like to distance themselves from older generations as much as possible, may it be via clothing, music politics or, in this case, humour. Most teenagers eventually just grow out of their phase of shutting themselves off of older people. That eventually happens either when they marry, or when they enter their 30's. I am not saying that a and progressing culture is bad, however it's a lie to say those teens will keep their culture with them as they grow old. Just take hippies, as am example Some of you may remember them promoting peace and other values, and generally having a very liberal mindset. Now, who were those hippies? This answer may be a suprise to you, but those hippies were (mostly) boomers. Yup, the same generation that is nowadays known for being notoriously authoritarian and close-minded. People can change. And those who laugh about their memes now will probably change too, once they reach a certain age. The only thing in favor of Frank's argument is the existence of the Internet. Although that argument isn't that much of a punch when considering the very likely possibility that another game changing form of media will probably pop up within the next few decades. Memes will simply not prevail, or they will be warped beyond recognition (Not as in becoming more abstract and surreal (which is also a very widely spread belief about Memes)), by having different unwritten rules for Memes. If a time traveler from 2011 saw a changing modern meme page from today, they wouldn't think those memes would be funny or should even be called memes. What we call memes now, will be forgotten in the future. To cut it short, memes will not have a major effect on culture, nor will they even be remembered in 20+ years. One more thing. Frank stated that Greg Heffley was saying "Actually, it's only a purse!" in the Meme he explained. That is incorrect, though. Greg says "Actually, it's a purse!" without the "only". I think it's highly unprofessional that he tries to deeply analyze a meme and then doesn't even quote the text correctly. It makes me feel like Frank is just doing this for the fame and money by focussing on dramaticising viewpoints instead of being scientifically accurate. This is probably the true reason Bethany left him and took the kids. Not because she "loved Chad more instead of a nice man like me", as Frank said, but because she can't stand him becoming increasingly narcissistic and delusional about his fame anymore. It's actually sickening me how he is cutting of more and more of his friends and family and doesn't even care for fans either. I know I will probably be fired by Frank for publishing this, but the problem is only turning bigger and bigger with no sight of him changing his ways. Frank should honestly take a break from his job and go visit his kids again. After all, he never bothered to see them once Bethany "took them away" from him. He can visit his children anytime he wants to, but he rather likes to work on another money milking machine again (which is ironically the reason the kids chose Bethany.) Alright, it's time to end this text. Looking back at it, it seems like it's 1/3 explanation, 1/3 critique and 1/3 open letter. I planned this to just be an extension of Frank's analysis and another lie about how we are getting along just fine, but now it turned into a half-agressive rant about him. But I just had to vent my frustations about my buddy. I know he hasa heart somewhere down below his thick skull, but for now it's simply how I and everyone else close to him perceive Frank. Hopefully he'll try to change. Peter Heffley PS: Frank, if you are reading this, please don't fire me for writing this. Try to reflect instead. PPS: Haha PP lol PPPS: I just went to r/Expla memes made me LOLWHMWADCCAEFP nltPeter, and all of the (Laughing Out Loud While Hitting Manny With A Diet Coke Condom And Eating Frank's Penis) out loud! Go visit that subreddit! Thanks for the explanation, Peter Heffley!

Exploring the Connections Between Your Mental and Spiritual Life and Your Financial Life

This is the second entry in an eight part series exploring the connections between your finances and other areas of your life. Last week, I started a series exploring the connections between personal finance and the other spheres of my life. The first entry covered the connections between ones physical life and financial life, and today were looking at ones mental and spiritual life and financial life. As noted in the first entry, I tend to view life as a bunch of spheres, or areas of focus. I really like Michael Hyatts list of nine such spheres: physical, mental/spiritual, intellectual, social, marital, parental, avocational (hobbies), vocational, and financial they cover much of what life is all about. Ive come to view these spheres as deeply interconnected, in that success in one sphere is usually linked in some significant ways to success in other spheres (and failures are similarly connected) and that knowing the connections can help people figure out how to succeed in both areas at once. Today, were going to look at a combined sphere, the mental and spiritual. I combine them because I find its often hard to tease apart the two. What Is the Mental and Spiritual Life? When I refer to ones mental and spiritual life, I mean the state of ones mind and emotional well being. Do I realize my own potential? Can I cope with the stress of life and work? Can I work productively and make forward progress on things? Can I make positive contributions to the lives of others? Do I have a sense of purpose in life? The core matter, for me, is do I feel well in a non-physical sense and have a positive sense of purpose and place in the world for yourself and for others? Answering that question well offers a bunch of financial benefits. First, youre able to handle stress and challenges without throwing money at the problem. If youre able to handle the stresses of everyday life and of professional life without regular interruption to your ability to handle the tasks demanded of you, youre going to be much better equipped to not only earn a good income, but to be able to manage your own life well without paying others to provide services for you. Second, you feel a sense of internal purpose rather than external purpose, which often guides people toward self-directed action rather than directed action. Simply knowing what you should do next and having the internal motivation to do so again makes it easier to earn an income and take care of your life responsibilities without excessive cost. Third, that same sense of purpose guides you toward meaningful goals, which makes it much easier to direct your finances toward long-term purposes. Having some sense of internal purpose and an understanding that your actions today translate toward fulfilling that purpose opens the door to long term goals like building a career and saving for retirement, which are necessary foundations for financial success in the modern world. Finally, taking basic steps to maintain my own mental and spiritual health each day drastically reduces the chance of a downward spiral in those areas, which can result in mental health costs and money spent seeking spiritual answers. In both areas, addressing those concerns regularly can keep molehills (which you can handle yourself or which can be resolved inexpensively) from developing into mountains (which require extensive help to overcome and can be disruptive to personal and professional life). Mental and spiritual crises can still occur, but theyre much less likely to occur. Here are five low cost strategies I use for maintaining my own mental and spiritual health. Strategy #1 Make Meditation and/or Prayer a Regular Part of Your Day I really dont distinguish between meditation and prayer because the practices are very similar. A prayer is effectively the same thing as a meditation using a mantra (a word or phrase or series of phrases used as a focal point for meditation) in terms of practical action, with the biggest difference coming as a result of ones theology and religious beliefs. Regardless of what form your religious beliefs take, a meditative or prayer practice is incredibly powerful at quieting the voices in your mind, that internal monologue that often never shuts up. Youre much more able to ignore it, which can have incredible benefits in terms of your sense of well being. Im not going to address whether its a psychological trick or a gift from a higher power, but I will say that it really works well, especially when you make it a daily routine. If you do it every day, it turns the volume down on that internal monologue that often leads to a lot of mental and spiritual discomfort. My routine is a really simple one. I simply set a timer on my phone, sit down in a comfortable position (in a chair or on the floor), and close my eyes. Then, I focus on something I often use my breath, but you can use a particular part of your body or a word or a phrase or a short prayer. Just focus on whatever that target is. If you feel your mind drifting away from it, bring it back to focus without feeling judgmental about it everyone does this, its part of the practice. If youre focusing on breathing, notice the air going in and out of you. If youre focused on a word or a phrase or a short prayer, repeat it slowly in your mind. Thats it just do it every day and youll start to notice benefits. Theyre not life-transformative, but theyre real and quite worthwhile, especially if its a daily practice. I personally find great value in doing this as a daily practice. Even if I didnt get any long term benefits at all from doing this, it still serves as a period of time each day for me to just be calm clear my head and collect my thoughts and keep my mind from rambling on and on. Its incredibly valuable as a time to connect with your preferred spiritual or religious tradition as well. Strategy #2 Start a Journaling Practice A journaling practice goes hand in hand with meditation. Its simply an opportunity to collect your thoughts and get them out of your head in a private way thats intended just for you. It can help you figure out a problem, organize a plan, dump out a bunch of stuff youre trying to remember or make sense of, and you can do it all at once. You can unleash feelings and thoughts without reservation and chip through walls youve built up around yourself, all without worrying about what anyone else might think of them. My personal practice is three morning pages, which I learned from Julia Camerons wonderful book The Artists Way. I simply fill up three pages in a journal each morning with stream of consciousness thought I just write whatevers on my mind. I find that doing this often causes me to start going through a process where I write down one thought and in the process of doing so a good follow-up thought pops into my head, and I write that down and the process repeats itself until I start reaching some good conclusions. (Given that journals are often very different in size, I actually use a timer for this rather than aiming to fill three pages; the timer is how long it takes me to fill three pages in my normal-sized journals, but sometimes I use bigger or smaller notebooks for this.) There are lots of other ways to journal; the key is to just find a format where you feel okay dumping out your own unguarded and unvarnished thoughts on paper. The key is to just make that dumping out of your thoughts into a regular routine. The goal of all of this is to simply clear away a lot of mental junk in your head. I tend to think of my brain as being like a bedroom, where I might toss dirty clothes or leave unread books lying around, and journaling is what I do to clean up that room. If I dont do it, eventually the whole floor is covered in crap and its hard to move around without stumbling over stuff. Journaling is like cleaning the room. Strategy #3 Use Positive Affirmations By positive affirmation, I dont actually mean things like Im good enough! Im smart enough! What Im actually talking about is simply reviewing the things youre good at and regularly reminding yourself of them. The truth is that everyone brings at least some gifts to lifes table, but its easy to lose track of what those things are and that sense of not having value can lead to a serious downward turn in a persons mental and spiritual state. This all starts by simply asking yourself what good traits and skills you possess. Its often easiest to do this when youre in a positive mood already, but if you find it difficult to do this, turn to someone in your life who is a positive influence and ask them for help with this. The goal is to identify positive traits you have, positive skills you have, and things you have achieved. Almost everyone can create a short list of such things. Then, use those items regularly as positive affirmations. For example, I might say, I am a good writer. I can write material that helps the lives of others and do it at a reasonably fast pace, or I might say, I am a good husband. I have maintained a successful marriage for more than fifteen years, or I might say, I am a good parent. I have a strong relationship with each of my three children. Just make a short list of these positive affirmations and say them to yourself each day. Remind yourself of each of those things, so you never lose track of the positive things about you and the positive things you bring into the world. Such affirmations are an extremely powerful counterbalance to the negative thoughts we often have about ourselves. Those negative thoughts are often the result of an internal monologue run amok, so such positive affirmations often work hand in hand with the first strategy, meditation, which seeks to quiet down that internal monologue. Strategy #4 Express Meaningful Gratitude Consider for a moment the people in your life that have helped you and have improved your life in some real way. Consider the other things in your life that bring a positive influence to you. Those are all good things in your life. Take the time to appreciate them. One easy way to do this is to simply list a few of them each day as part of a journaling practice. Just include a list of a few things youre grateful for, whether its people or things or ideas or events or whatever it is that has brought something positive into your life. Its also a good idea to sometimes take it even further. If someone has had a positive impact on your life, send that person a handwritten note. Write down what theyve done for you and say directly how much you appreciate it. Not only is this an incredibly powerful thing to receive, its also an incredibly powerful thing to send. This type of gratitude feels good because its a direct demonstration to you that you have good things in your life. Even in moments where you feel some level of despair, gratitude is there to remind you that there are good things that persist, that everything is not gray. Strategy #5 Give Extra Attention to Your Physical and Social Health Your physical and social health are strongly connected to your mental and spiritual health. A healthy body is a powerful support for healthy brain chemistry, and a strong social network is also an incredibly powerful support for a healthy mind and spirit. I covered positive steps for physical health just last week. Exercise outside of the gym by finding physical activities you enjoy doing and making them a part of your life. Get a grip on your calorie intake and eat a higher proportion of fruits and vegetables. Cut back (or, ideally, eliminate) vices: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, soda, and sugar-laden snacks. Go to bed earlier so you can rise naturally without an alarm most days. Practice good hygiene: wash your hands often, brush your teeth daily, and bathe regularly. Those are great steps for your physical health, which can really support your mental health. As for positive steps for a good social life, it comes down to spending time with people on a regular basis. Yes, some people are introverts and value their me time greatly, but some sense of community and social contact is valuable for everyone. Keep in touch with good friends and family members. Attend social events and dont just sit or stand in the corner. Invite other people to do things, and when invited, accept as often as possible or decline in a polite way that opens the door for follow-up. Try a variety of religious experiences to find one that works for you. Those steps are all powerful supports for ones mental and spiritual health. Final Thoughts Your mental and spiritual health is an invaluable and central part of your life. If you feel positive about yourself and positive about your place in the world and universe, youre much better equipped to handle the stresses and challenges of daily life. If youre struggling with those things, even the normal routines of life can be a real chore. Investing some of your time to strengthen the foundations of your mental and spiritual life can bring about powerful financial results. Youll spend less on services, on stress reduction, on short-term sources of fleeting joy, and on mental health support. Over the long term, that money can make a profound difference in your financial life. The steps really are easy. Take time to meditate or pray daily. Write down your unguarded thoughts regularly. Reflect on the positive aspects of yourself. Express gratitude for the good people and good things in your life. Keep an eye on your physical health and build a good social life. Those steps arent a perfect answer for everyone. If you still find mental or spiritual issues to be a struggle, dont be afraid to seek help to get those matters straight. These tactics are mostly useful for helping you keep things on a good path rather than resolving a truly difficult situation. The focus here is on overcoming molehills; look for much further help if you are dealing with mountains. Good luck! https://www.thesimpledollar.com/exploring-the-connections-between-your-mental-and-spiritual-life-and-your-financial-life/

Exploring the Connections Between Your Mental and Spiritual Life and Your Financial Life

This is the second entry in an eight part series exploring the connections between your finances and other areas of your life. Last week, I started a series exploring the connections between personal finance and the other spheres of my life. The first entry covered the connections between ones physical life and financial life, and today were looking at ones mental and spiritual life and financial life. As noted in the first entry, I tend to view life as a bunch of spheres, or areas of focus. I really like Michael Hyatts list of nine such spheres: physical, mental/spiritual, intellectual, social, marital, parental, avocational (hobbies), vocational, and financial they cover much of what life is all about. Ive come to view these spheres as deeply interconnected, in that success in one sphere is usually linked in some significant ways to success in other spheres (and failures are similarly connected) and that knowing the connections can help people figure out how to succeed in both areas at once. Today, were going to look at a combined sphere, the mental and spiritual. I combine them because I find its often hard to tease apart the two. What Is the Mental and Spiritual Life? When I refer to ones mental and spiritual life, I mean the state of ones mind and emotional well being. Do I realize my own potential? Can I cope with the stress of life and work? Can I work productively and make forward progress on things? Can I make positive contributions to the lives of others? Do I have a sense of purpose in life? The core matter, for me, is do I feel well in a non-physical sense and have a positive sense of purpose and place in the world for yourself and for others? Answering that question well offers a bunch of financial benefits. First, youre able to handle stress and challenges without throwing money at the problem. If youre able to handle the stresses of everyday life and of professional life without regular interruption to your ability to handle the tasks demanded of you, youre going to be much better equipped to not only earn a good income, but to be able to manage your own life well without paying others to provide services for you. Second, you feel a sense of internal purpose rather than external purpose, which often guides people toward self-directed action rather than directed action. Simply knowing what you should do next and having the internal motivation to do so again makes it easier to earn an income and take care of your life responsibilities without excessive cost. Third, that same sense of purpose guides you toward meaningful goals, which makes it much easier to direct your finances toward long-term purposes. Having some sense of internal purpose and an understanding that your actions today translate toward fulfilling that purpose opens the door to long term goals like building a career and saving for retirement, which are necessary foundations for financial success in the modern world. Finally, taking basic steps to maintain my own mental and spiritual health each day drastically reduces the chance of a downward spiral in those areas, which can result in mental health costs and money spent seeking spiritual answers. In both areas, addressing those concerns regularly can keep molehills (which you can handle yourself or which can be resolved inexpensively) from developing into mountains (which require extensive help to overcome and can be disruptive to personal and professional life). Mental and spiritual crises can still occur, but theyre much less likely to occur. Here are five low cost strategies I use for maintaining my own mental and spiritual health. Strategy #1 Make Meditation and/or Prayer a Regular Part of Your Day I really dont distinguish between meditation and prayer because the practices are very similar. A prayer is effectively the same thing as a meditation using a mantra (a word or phrase or series of phrases used as a focal point for meditation) in terms of practical action, with the biggest difference coming as a result of ones theology and religious beliefs. Regardless of what form your religious beliefs take, a meditative or prayer practice is incredibly powerful at quieting the voices in your mind, that internal monologue that often never shuts up. Youre much more able to ignore it, which can have incredible benefits in terms of your sense of well being. Im not going to address whether its a psychological trick or a gift from a higher power, but I will say that it really works well, especially when you make it a daily routine. If you do it every day, it turns the volume down on that internal monologue that often leads to a lot of mental and spiritual discomfort. My routine is a really simple one. I simply set a timer on my phone, sit down in a comfortable position (in a chair or on the floor), and close my eyes. Then, I focus on something I often use my breath, but you can use a particular part of your body or a word or a phrase or a short prayer. Just focus on whatever that target is. If you feel your mind drifting away from it, bring it back to focus without feeling judgmental about it everyone does this, its part of the practice. If youre focusing on breathing, notice the air going in and out of you. If youre focused on a word or a phrase or a short prayer, repeat it slowly in your mind. Thats it just do it every day and youll start to notice benefits. Theyre not life-transformative, but theyre real and quite worthwhile, especially if its a daily practice. I personally find great value in doing this as a daily practice. Even if I didnt get any long term benefits at all from doing this, it still serves as a period of time each day for me to just be calm clear my head and collect my thoughts and keep my mind from rambling on and on. Its incredibly valuable as a time to connect with your preferred spiritual or religious tradition as well. Strategy #2 Start a Journaling Practice A journaling practice goes hand in hand with meditation. Its simply an opportunity to collect your thoughts and get them out of your head in a private way thats intended just for you. It can help you figure out a problem, organize a plan, dump out a bunch of stuff youre trying to remember or make sense of, and you can do it all at once. You can unleash feelings and thoughts without reservation and chip through walls youve built up around yourself, all without worrying about what anyone else might think of them. My personal practice is three morning pages, which I learned from Julia Camerons wonderful book The Artists Way. I simply fill up three pages in a journal each morning with stream of consciousness thought I just write whatevers on my mind. I find that doing this often causes me to start going through a process where I write down one thought and in the process of doing so a good follow-up thought pops into my head, and I write that down and the process repeats itself until I start reaching some good conclusions. (Given that journals are often very different in size, I actually use a timer for this rather than aiming to fill three pages; the timer is how long it takes me to fill three pages in my normal-sized journals, but sometimes I use bigger or smaller notebooks for this.) There are lots of other ways to journal; the key is to just find a format where you feel okay dumping out your own unguarded and unvarnished thoughts on paper. The key is to just make that dumping out of your thoughts into a regular routine. The goal of all of this is to simply clear away a lot of mental junk in your head. I tend to think of my brain as being like a bedroom, where I might toss dirty clothes or leave unread books lying around, and journaling is what I do to clean up that room. If I dont do it, eventually the whole floor is covered in crap and its hard to move around without stumbling over stuff. Journaling is like cleaning the room. Strategy #3 Use Positive Affirmations By positive affirmation, I dont actually mean things like Im good enough! Im smart enough! What Im actually talking about is simply reviewing the things youre good at and regularly reminding yourself of them. The truth is that everyone brings at least some gifts to lifes table, but its easy to lose track of what those things are and that sense of not having value can lead to a serious downward turn in a persons mental and spiritual state. This all starts by simply asking yourself what good traits and skills you possess. Its often easiest to do this when youre in a positive mood already, but if you find it difficult to do this, turn to someone in your life who is a positive influence and ask them for help with this. The goal is to identify positive traits you have, positive skills you have, and things you have achieved. Almost everyone can create a short list of such things. Then, use those items regularly as positive affirmations. For example, I might say, I am a good writer. I can write material that helps the lives of others and do it at a reasonably fast pace, or I might say, I am a good husband. I have maintained a successful marriage for more than fifteen years, or I might say, I am a good parent. I have a strong relationship with each of my three children. Just make a short list of these positive affirmations and say them to yourself each day. Remind yourself of each of those things, so you never lose track of the positive things about you and the positive things you bring into the world. Such affirmations are an extremely powerful counterbalance to the negative thoughts we often have about ourselves. Those negative thoughts are often the result of an internal monologue run amok, so such positive affirmations often work hand in hand with the first strategy, meditation, which seeks to quiet down that internal monologue. Strategy #4 Express Meaningful Gratitude Consider for a moment the people in your life that have helped you and have improved your life in some real way. Consider the other things in your life that bring a positive influence to you. Those are all good things in your life. Take the time to appreciate them. One easy way to do this is to simply list a few of them each day as part of a journaling practice. Just include a list of a few things youre grateful for, whether its people or things or ideas or events or whatever it is that has brought something positive into your life. Its also a good idea to sometimes take it even further. If someone has had a positive impact on your life, send that person a handwritten note. Write down what theyve done for you and say directly how much you appreciate it. Not only is this an incredibly powerful thing to receive, its also an incredibly powerful thing to send. This type of gratitude feels good because its a direct demonstration to you that you have good things in your life. Even in moments where you feel some level of despair, gratitude is there to remind you that there are good things that persist, that everything is not gray. Strategy #5 Give Extra Attention to Your Physical and Social Health Your physical and social health are strongly connected to your mental and spiritual health. A healthy body is a powerful support for healthy brain chemistry, and a strong social network is also an incredibly powerful support for a healthy mind and spirit. I covered positive steps for physical health just last week. Exercise outside of the gym by finding physical activities you enjoy doing and making them a part of your life. Get a grip on your calorie intake and eat a higher proportion of fruits and vegetables. Cut back (or, ideally, eliminate) vices: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, soda, and sugar-laden snacks. Go to bed earlier so you can rise naturally without an alarm most days. Practice good hygiene: wash your hands often, brush your teeth daily, and bathe regularly. Those are great steps for your physical health, which can really support your mental health. As for positive steps for a good social life, it comes down to spending time with people on a regular basis. Yes, some people are introverts and value their me time greatly, but some sense of community and social contact is valuable for everyone. Keep in touch with good friends and family members. Attend social events and dont just sit or stand in the corner. Invite other people to do things, and when invited, accept as often as possible or decline in a polite way that opens the door for follow-up. Try a variety of religious experiences to find one that works for you. Those steps are all powerful supports for ones mental and spiritual health. Final Thoughts Your mental and spiritual health is an invaluable and central part of your life. If you feel positive about yourself and positive about your place in the world and universe, youre much better equipped to handle the stresses and challenges of daily life. If youre struggling with those things, even the normal routines of life can be a real chore. Investing some of your time to strengthen the foundations of your mental and spiritual life can bring about powerful financial results. Youll spend less on services, on stress reduction, on short-term sources of fleeting joy, and on mental health support. Over the long term, that money can make a profound difference in your financial life. The steps really are easy. Take time to meditate or pray daily. Write down your unguarded thoughts regularly. Reflect on the positive aspects of yourself. Express gratitude for the good people and good things in your life. Keep an eye on your physical health and build a good social life. Those steps arent a perfect answer for everyone. If you still find mental or spiritual issues to be a struggle, dont be afraid to seek help to get those matters straight. These tactics are mostly useful for helping you keep things on a good path rather than resolving a truly difficult situation. The focus here is on overcoming molehills; look for much further help if you are dealing with mountains. Good luck! https://www.thesimpledollar.com/exploring-the-connections-between-your-mental-and-spiritual-life-and-your-financial-life/

Exploring the Connections Between Your Mental and Spiritual Life and Your Financial Life

This is the second entry in an eight part series exploring the connections between your finances and other areas of your life. Last week, I started a series exploring the connections between personal finance and the other spheres of my life. The first entry covered the connections between ones physical life and financial life, and today were looking at ones mental and spiritual life and financial life. As noted in the first entry, I tend to view life as a bunch of spheres, or areas of focus. I really like Michael Hyatts list of nine such spheres: physical, mental/spiritual, intellectual, social, marital, parental, avocational (hobbies), vocational, and financial they cover much of what life is all about. Ive come to view these spheres as deeply interconnected, in that success in one sphere is usually linked in some significant ways to success in other spheres (and failures are similarly connected) and that knowing the connections can help people figure out how to succeed in both areas at once. Today, were going to look at a combined sphere, the mental and spiritual. I combine them because I find its often hard to tease apart the two. What Is the Mental and Spiritual Life? When I refer to ones mental and spiritual life, I mean the state of ones mind and emotional well being. Do I realize my own potential? Can I cope with the stress of life and work? Can I work productively and make forward progress on things? Can I make positive contributions to the lives of others? Do I have a sense of purpose in life? The core matter, for me, is do I feel well in a non-physical sense and have a positive sense of purpose and place in the world for yourself and for others? Answering that question well offers a bunch of financial benefits. First, youre able to handle stress and challenges without throwing money at the problem. If youre able to handle the stresses of everyday life and of professional life without regular interruption to your ability to handle the tasks demanded of you, youre going to be much better equipped to not only earn a good income, but to be able to manage your own life well without paying others to provide services for you. Second, you feel a sense of internal purpose rather than external purpose, which often guides people toward self-directed action rather than directed action. Simply knowing what you should do next and having the internal motivation to do so again makes it easier to earn an income and take care of your life responsibilities without excessive cost. Third, that same sense of purpose guides you toward meaningful goals, which makes it much easier to direct your finances toward long-term purposes. Having some sense of internal purpose and an understanding that your actions today translate toward fulfilling that purpose opens the door to long term goals like building a career and saving for retirement, which are necessary foundations for financial success in the modern world. Finally, taking basic steps to maintain my own mental and spiritual health each day drastically reduces the chance of a downward spiral in those areas, which can result in mental health costs and money spent seeking spiritual answers. In both areas, addressing those concerns regularly can keep molehills (which you can handle yourself or which can be resolved inexpensively) from developing into mountains (which require extensive help to overcome and can be disruptive to personal and professional life). Mental and spiritual crises can still occur, but theyre much less likely to occur. Here are five low cost strategies I use for maintaining my own mental and spiritual health. Strategy #1 Make Meditation and/or Prayer a Regular Part of Your Day I really dont distinguish between meditation and prayer because the practices are very similar. A prayer is effectively the same thing as a meditation using a mantra (a word or phrase or series of phrases used as a focal point for meditation) in terms of practical action, with the biggest difference coming as a result of ones theology and religious beliefs. Regardless of what form your religious beliefs take, a meditative or prayer practice is incredibly powerful at quieting the voices in your mind, that internal monologue that often never shuts up. Youre much more able to ignore it, which can have incredible benefits in terms of your sense of well being. Im not going to address whether its a psychological trick or a gift from a higher power, but I will say that it really works well, especially when you make it a daily routine. If you do it every day, it turns the volume down on that internal monologue that often leads to a lot of mental and spiritual discomfort. My routine is a really simple one. I simply set a timer on my phone, sit down in a comfortable position (in a chair or on the floor), and close my eyes. Then, I focus on something I often use my breath, but you can use a particular part of your body or a word or a phrase or a short prayer. Just focus on whatever that target is. If you feel your mind drifting away from it, bring it back to focus without feeling judgmental about it everyone does this, its part of the practice. If youre focusing on breathing, notice the air going in and out of you. If youre focused on a word or a phrase or a short prayer, repeat it slowly in your mind. Thats it just do it every day and youll start to notice benefits. Theyre not life-transformative, but theyre real and quite worthwhile, especially if its a daily practice. I personally find great value in doing this as a daily practice. Even if I didnt get any long term benefits at all from doing this, it still serves as a period of time each day for me to just be calm clear my head and collect my thoughts and keep my mind from rambling on and on. Its incredibly valuable as a time to connect with your preferred spiritual or religious tradition as well. Strategy #2 Start a Journaling Practice A journaling practice goes hand in hand with meditation. Its simply an opportunity to collect your thoughts and get them out of your head in a private way thats intended just for you. It can help you figure out a problem, organize a plan, dump out a bunch of stuff youre trying to remember or make sense of, and you can do it all at once. You can unleash feelings and thoughts without reservation and chip through walls youve built up around yourself, all without worrying about what anyone else might think of them. My personal practice is three morning pages, which I learned from Julia Camerons wonderful book The Artists Way. I simply fill up three pages in a journal each morning with stream of consciousness thought I just write whatevers on my mind. I find that doing this often causes me to start going through a process where I write down one thought and in the process of doing so a good follow-up thought pops into my head, and I write that down and the process repeats itself until I start reaching some good conclusions. (Given that journals are often very different in size, I actually use a timer for this rather than aiming to fill three pages; the timer is how long it takes me to fill three pages in my normal-sized journals, but sometimes I use bigger or smaller notebooks for this.) There are lots of other ways to journal; the key is to just find a format where you feel okay dumping out your own unguarded and unvarnished thoughts on paper. The key is to just make that dumping out of your thoughts into a regular routine. The goal of all of this is to simply clear away a lot of mental junk in your head. I tend to think of my brain as being like a bedroom, where I might toss dirty clothes or leave unread books lying around, and journaling is what I do to clean up that room. If I dont do it, eventually the whole floor is covered in crap and its hard to move around without stumbling over stuff. Journaling is like cleaning the room. Strategy #3 Use Positive Affirmations By positive affirmation, I dont actually mean things like Im good enough! Im smart enough! What Im actually talking about is simply reviewing the things youre good at and regularly reminding yourself of them. The truth is that everyone brings at least some gifts to lifes table, but its easy to lose track of what those things are and that sense of not having value can lead to a serious downward turn in a persons mental and spiritual state. This all starts by simply asking yourself what good traits and skills you possess. Its often easiest to do this when youre in a positive mood already, but if you find it difficult to do this, turn to someone in your life who is a positive influence and ask them for help with this. The goal is to identify positive traits you have, positive skills you have, and things you have achieved. Almost everyone can create a short list of such things. Then, use those items regularly as positive affirmations. For example, I might say, I am a good writer. I can write material that helps the lives of others and do it at a reasonably fast pace, or I might say, I am a good husband. I have maintained a successful marriage for more than fifteen years, or I might say, I am a good parent. I have a strong relationship with each of my three children. Just make a short list of these positive affirmations and say them to yourself each day. Remind yourself of each of those things, so you never lose track of the positive things about you and the positive things you bring into the world. Such affirmations are an extremely powerful counterbalance to the negative thoughts we often have about ourselves. Those negative thoughts are often the result of an internal monologue run amok, so such positive affirmations often work hand in hand with the first strategy, meditation, which seeks to quiet down that internal monologue. Strategy #4 Express Meaningful Gratitude Consider for a moment the people in your life that have helped you and have improved your life in some real way. Consider the other things in your life that bring a positive influence to you. Those are all good things in your life. Take the time to appreciate them. One easy way to do this is to simply list a few of them each day as part of a journaling practice. Just include a list of a few things youre grateful for, whether its people or things or ideas or events or whatever it is that has brought something positive into your life. Its also a good idea to sometimes take it even further. If someone has had a positive impact on your life, send that person a handwritten note. Write down what theyve done for you and say directly how much you appreciate it. Not only is this an incredibly powerful thing to receive, its also an incredibly powerful thing to send. This type of gratitude feels good because its a direct demonstration to you that you have good things in your life. Even in moments where you feel some level of despair, gratitude is there to remind you that there are good things that persist, that everything is not gray. Strategy #5 Give Extra Attention to Your Physical and Social Health Your physical and social health are strongly connected to your mental and spiritual health. A healthy body is a powerful support for healthy brain chemistry, and a strong social network is also an incredibly powerful support for a healthy mind and spirit. I covered positive steps for physical health just last week. Exercise outside of the gym by finding physical activities you enjoy doing and making them a part of your life. Get a grip on your calorie intake and eat a higher proportion of fruits and vegetables. Cut back (or, ideally, eliminate) vices: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, soda, and sugar-laden snacks. Go to bed earlier so you can rise naturally without an alarm most days. Practice good hygiene: wash your hands often, brush your teeth daily, and bathe regularly. Those are great steps for your physical health, which can really support your mental health. As for positive steps for a good social life, it comes down to spending time with people on a regular basis. Yes, some people are introverts and value their me time greatly, but some sense of community and social contact is valuable for everyone. Keep in touch with good friends and family members. Attend social events and dont just sit or stand in the corner. Invite other people to do things, and when invited, accept as often as possible or decline in a polite way that opens the door for follow-up. Try a variety of religious experiences to find one that works for you. Those steps are all powerful supports for ones mental and spiritual health. Final Thoughts Your mental and spiritual health is an invaluable and central part of your life. If you feel positive about yourself and positive about your place in the world and universe, youre much better equipped to handle the stresses and challenges of daily life. If youre struggling with those things, even the normal routines of life can be a real chore. Investing some of your time to strengthen the foundations of your mental and spiritual life can bring about powerful financial results. Youll spend less on services, on stress reduction, on short-term sources of fleeting joy, and on mental health support. Over the long term, that money can make a profound difference in your financial life. The steps really are easy. Take time to meditate or pray daily. Write down your unguarded thoughts regularly. Reflect on the positive aspects of yourself. Express gratitude for the good people and good things in your life. Keep an eye on your physical health and build a good social life. Those steps arent a perfect answer for everyone. If you still find mental or spiritual issues to be a struggle, dont be afraid to seek help to get those matters straight. These tactics are mostly useful for helping you keep things on a good path rather than resolving a truly difficult situation. The focus here is on overcoming molehills; look for much further help if you are dealing with mountains. Good luck! https://www.thesimpledollar.com/exploring-the-connections-between-your-mental-and-spiritual-life-and-your-financial-life/

Exploring the Connections Between Your Mental and Spiritual Life and Your Financial Life

This is the second entry in an eight part series exploring the connections between your finances and other areas of your life. Last week, I started a series exploring the connections between personal finance and the other spheres of my life. The first entry covered the connections between ones physical life and financial life, and today were looking at ones mental and spiritual life and financial life. As noted in the first entry, I tend to view life as a bunch of spheres, or areas of focus. I really like Michael Hyatts list of nine such spheres: physical, mental/spiritual, intellectual, social, marital, parental, avocational (hobbies), vocational, and financial they cover much of what life is all about. Ive come to view these spheres as deeply interconnected, in that success in one sphere is usually linked in some significant ways to success in other spheres (and failures are similarly connected) and that knowing the connections can help people figure out how to succeed in both areas at once. Today, were going to look at a combined sphere, the mental and spiritual. I combine them because I find its often hard to tease apart the two. What Is the Mental and Spiritual Life? When I refer to ones mental and spiritual life, I mean the state of ones mind and emotional well being. Do I realize my own potential? Can I cope with the stress of life and work? Can I work productively and make forward progress on things? Can I make positive contributions to the lives of others? Do I have a sense of purpose in life? The core matter, for me, is do I feel well in a non-physical sense and have a positive sense of purpose and place in the world for yourself and for others? Answering that question well offers a bunch of financial benefits. First, youre able to handle stress and challenges without throwing money at the problem. If youre able to handle the stresses of everyday life and of professional life without regular interruption to your ability to handle the tasks demanded of you, youre going to be much better equipped to not only earn a good income, but to be able to manage your own life well without paying others to provide services for you. Second, you feel a sense of internal purpose rather than external purpose, which often guides people toward self-directed action rather than directed action. Simply knowing what you should do next and having the internal motivation to do so again makes it easier to earn an income and take care of your life responsibilities without excessive cost. Third, that same sense of purpose guides you toward meaningful goals, which makes it much easier to direct your finances toward long-term purposes. Having some sense of internal purpose and an understanding that your actions today translate toward fulfilling that purpose opens the door to long term goals like building a career and saving for retirement, which are necessary foundations for financial success in the modern world. Finally, taking basic steps to maintain my own mental and spiritual health each day drastically reduces the chance of a downward spiral in those areas, which can result in mental health costs and money spent seeking spiritual answers. In both areas, addressing those concerns regularly can keep molehills (which you can handle yourself or which can be resolved inexpensively) from developing into mountains (which require extensive help to overcome and can be disruptive to personal and professional life). Mental and spiritual crises can still occur, but theyre much less likely to occur. Here are five low cost strategies I use for maintaining my own mental and spiritual health. Strategy #1 Make Meditation and/or Prayer a Regular Part of Your Day I really dont distinguish between meditation and prayer because the practices are very similar. A prayer is effectively the same thing as a meditation using a mantra (a word or phrase or series of phrases used as a focal point for meditation) in terms of practical action, with the biggest difference coming as a result of ones theology and religious beliefs. Regardless of what form your religious beliefs take, a meditative or prayer practice is incredibly powerful at quieting the voices in your mind, that internal monologue that often never shuts up. Youre much more able to ignore it, which can have incredible benefits in terms of your sense of well being. Im not going to address whether its a psychological trick or a gift from a higher power, but I will say that it really works well, especially when you make it a daily routine. If you do it every day, it turns the volume down on that internal monologue that often leads to a lot of mental and spiritual discomfort. My routine is a really simple one. I simply set a timer on my phone, sit down in a comfortable position (in a chair or on the floor), and close my eyes. Then, I focus on something I often use my breath, but you can use a particular part of your body or a word or a phrase or a short prayer. Just focus on whatever that target is. If you feel your mind drifting away from it, bring it back to focus without feeling judgmental about it everyone does this, its part of the practice. If youre focusing on breathing, notice the air going in and out of you. If youre focused on a word or a phrase or a short prayer, repeat it slowly in your mind. Thats it just do it every day and youll start to notice benefits. Theyre not life-transformative, but theyre real and quite worthwhile, especially if its a daily practice. I personally find great value in doing this as a daily practice. Even if I didnt get any long term benefits at all from doing this, it still serves as a period of time each day for me to just be calm clear my head and collect my thoughts and keep my mind from rambling on and on. Its incredibly valuable as a time to connect with your preferred spiritual or religious tradition as well. Strategy #2 Start a Journaling Practice A journaling practice goes hand in hand with meditation. Its simply an opportunity to collect your thoughts and get them out of your head in a private way thats intended just for you. It can help you figure out a problem, organize a plan, dump out a bunch of stuff youre trying to remember or make sense of, and you can do it all at once. You can unleash feelings and thoughts without reservation and chip through walls youve built up around yourself, all without worrying about what anyone else might think of them. My personal practice is three morning pages, which I learned from Julia Camerons wonderful book The Artists Way. I simply fill up three pages in a journal each morning with stream of consciousness thought I just write whatevers on my mind. I find that doing this often causes me to start going through a process where I write down one thought and in the process of doing so a good follow-up thought pops into my head, and I write that down and the process repeats itself until I start reaching some good conclusions. (Given that journals are often very different in size, I actually use a timer for this rather than aiming to fill three pages; the timer is how long it takes me to fill three pages in my normal-sized journals, but sometimes I use bigger or smaller notebooks for this.) There are lots of other ways to journal; the key is to just find a format where you feel okay dumping out your own unguarded and unvarnished thoughts on paper. The key is to just make that dumping out of your thoughts into a regular routine. The goal of all of this is to simply clear away a lot of mental junk in your head. I tend to think of my brain as being like a bedroom, where I might toss dirty clothes or leave unread books lying around, and journaling is what I do to clean up that room. If I dont do it, eventually the whole floor is covered in crap and its hard to move around without stumbling over stuff. Journaling is like cleaning the room. Strategy #3 Use Positive Affirmations By positive affirmation, I dont actually mean things like Im good enough! Im smart enough! What Im actually talking about is simply reviewing the things youre good at and regularly reminding yourself of them. The truth is that everyone brings at least some gifts to lifes table, but its easy to lose track of what those things are and that sense of not having value can lead to a serious downward turn in a persons mental and spiritual state. This all starts by simply asking yourself what good traits and skills you possess. Its often easiest to do this when youre in a positive mood already, but if you find it difficult to do this, turn to someone in your life who is a positive influence and ask them for help with this. The goal is to identify positive traits you have, positive skills you have, and things you have achieved. Almost everyone can create a short list of such things. Then, use those items regularly as positive affirmations. For example, I might say, I am a good writer. I can write material that helps the lives of others and do it at a reasonably fast pace, or I might say, I am a good husband. I have maintained a successful marriage for more than fifteen years, or I might say, I am a good parent. I have a strong relationship with each of my three children. Just make a short list of these positive affirmations and say them to yourself each day. Remind yourself of each of those things, so you never lose track of the positive things about you and the positive things you bring into the world. Such affirmations are an extremely powerful counterbalance to the negative thoughts we often have about ourselves. Those negative thoughts are often the result of an internal monologue run amok, so such positive affirmations often work hand in hand with the first strategy, meditation, which seeks to quiet down that internal monologue. Strategy #4 Express Meaningful Gratitude Consider for a moment the people in your life that have helped you and have improved your life in some real way. Consider the other things in your life that bring a positive influence to you. Those are all good things in your life. Take the time to appreciate them. One easy way to do this is to simply list a few of them each day as part of a journaling practice. Just include a list of a few things youre grateful for, whether its people or things or ideas or events or whatever it is that has brought something positive into your life. Its also a good idea to sometimes take it even further. If someone has had a positive impact on your life, send that person a handwritten note. Write down what theyve done for you and say directly how much you appreciate it. Not only is this an incredibly powerful thing to receive, its also an incredibly powerful thing to send. This type of gratitude feels good because its a direct demonstration to you that you have good things in your life. Even in moments where you feel some level of despair, gratitude is there to remind you that there are good things that persist, that everything is not gray. Strategy #5 Give Extra Attention to Your Physical and Social Health Your physical and social health are strongly connected to your mental and spiritual health. A healthy body is a powerful support for healthy brain chemistry, and a strong social network is also an incredibly powerful support for a healthy mind and spirit. I covered positive steps for physical health just last week. Exercise outside of the gym by finding physical activities you enjoy doing and making them a part of your life. Get a grip on your calorie intake and eat a higher proportion of fruits and vegetables. Cut back (or, ideally, eliminate) vices: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, soda, and sugar-laden snacks. Go to bed earlier so you can rise naturally without an alarm most days. Practice good hygiene: wash your hands often, brush your teeth daily, and bathe regularly. Those are great steps for your physical health, which can really support your mental health. As for positive steps for a good social life, it comes down to spending time with people on a regular basis. Yes, some people are introverts and value their me time greatly, but some sense of community and social contact is valuable for everyone. Keep in touch with good friends and family members. Attend social events and dont just sit or stand in the corner. Invite other people to do things, and when invited, accept as often as possible or decline in a polite way that opens the door for follow-up. Try a variety of religious experiences to find one that works for you. Those steps are all powerful supports for ones mental and spiritual health. Final Thoughts Your mental and spiritual health is an invaluable and central part of your life. If you feel positive about yourself and positive about your place in the world and universe, youre much better equipped to handle the stresses and challenges of daily life. If youre struggling with those things, even the normal routines of life can be a real chore. Investing some of your time to strengthen the foundations of your mental and spiritual life can bring about powerful financial results. Youll spend less on services, on stress reduction, on short-term sources of fleeting joy, and on mental health support. Over the long term, that money can make a profound difference in your financial life. The steps really are easy. Take time to meditate or pray daily. Write down your unguarded thoughts regularly. Reflect on the positive aspects of yourself. Express gratitude for the good people and good things in your life. Keep an eye on your physical health and build a good social life. Those steps arent a perfect answer for everyone. If you still find mental or spiritual issues to be a struggle, dont be afraid to seek help to get those matters straight. These tactics are mostly useful for helping you keep things on a good path rather than resolving a truly difficult situation. The focus here is on overcoming molehills; look for much further help if you are dealing with mountains. Good luck! https://www.thesimpledollar.com/exploring-the-connections-between-your-mental-and-spiritual-life-and-your-financial-life/