Something about myself I hope to change is to be able to balance work, school, and relaxation time. I have a few friends who I hang out with that seem like they have it all together and I know we are trying our best to be healthy. Health is the process in which we all follow to have happiness, great relationships, and fulfillment of life goals.
Chapter 1) Healthy Change
Making healthy choices is what I always strive to accomplish but after reading Chapter One, I realized I can always improve. Health is cultivated by maintaining the six dimensions of health known as physical, social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and environmental.
My goal is to improve on these six dimensions by taking this course and learning about myself along the way. Starting with the physical health; working out three days a week. Social health; I am taking summer courses but I do not think it will impact my social life much. I have healthy relationships with my friends who support me. Intellectual health; I keep in my mind the coursework that I have to do and, like others, I procrastinate but I know I can only improve. Emotional health; I realize that I experience a wide range of emotions like feeling stressed and angry about tests. When it involves school I feel that I am hard on myself but the relief at the end will be worth it because this is an important time of my life. Spiritual health; I figured that I must be pretty special to be born in this moment of time and I want to live my life to the fullest. Environmental health; I always respected the Earth with everything it has to offer so I hope to someday be part of the healthy change that would better ourselves and for the future.
Learning about mindfulness in this chapter, it relates to the health aspect I have chosen when I practice it every day. I like to take walks in the summer and I appreciate being in the moment. There are theories of mindfulness that it helps with self regulation and control of negative emotions. Activities that help promote mindfulness is yoga, knowing your purpose for the day, and cultivating compassion. My health aspect has to do with mindfulness because I aim to exercise everyday and eat two nutritious meals a day.
The Transtheoretical model of behavior change is what seems more doable to for me. There are six phases to this model. Since I have chosen to eat healthier and to exercise daily, I have begun to go through the six phases.
- Precontemplation is when you are the stage where you do not see anything needs to be changed. Or if you have tried but could not. Like procrastination.
- Contemplation is when you finally start to see the negative effects of your actions and start to think about bettering yourself . There has yet to be any action or preparation taken.
- Preparation is finally thinking about what you need to do to start changing a behavior.
- Action starts when you take the first steps on the list of bettering yourself.
- Maintenance is continuing going through the list of steps everyday for as long as you need to. It becomes a permanent staple of your life.
- Termination is when you no longer feel that constant doing will have any further effects.
Chapter 2) Psychological Health
I feel that we are in a weird time in our lives living in America. There is so much going on right now that I feel we have no control over. Many issues that are going on in the world linger in my mind, I can not help but to feel like we should be doing more. This chapter made me think about my own psychological health and I realized I could always improve. Psychological health is made up of emotional, physical, spiritual, mental and social aspects.
In my daily life, I get along with my parents and my sister. They have helped me a ton throughout school and I want to repay them by doing my best. Interacting with my co-workers or other students, I always try to be patient and understanding. I rarely get angry at people because I am sure they are experiencing their own trials. If there is ever an opportunity to help, I would try my best to help. My purpose in life is to find meaning to my life and right now that is my parents and my friends. I am totally aware of my faults such as procrastinating, drinking, and smoking. I feel that everything should be done in moderation. When I am feeling in the dumps, I do not use substances to feel better but I try to reflect and reading books helped expand my horizons. Now I try to better myself by limiting the amount of fun when I have to focus on coursework and my relationship with my parents.
Psychological health is the combination of how we think, feel, relate, and exist everyday. Feeling good about ourselves while dealing with stress and our needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is very relatable and I can see myself using it because it details the five levels in which we would need to be healthy. Survival needs include having clean water, organic food, sleep , exercise, sexual expression. Security needs include shelter, safety, protection. Social needs include belonging, affection, acceptance. Esteem needs include self respect, respect for others, accomplishment. Self actualization needs include creativity spirituality, fulfillment of potential.
Mental health professionals include psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, social workers, and counselors. Many therapy methods exist, including psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness therapies.
Chapter 3) Stress
Distress is negative stress. Eustress is positive stress. Acute stress is intense stress that flares quickly and disappears as quickly. There is episodic acute stress is the kind that I have. Stress that happens throughout the day. Stress about deciding what to eat, how to exercise, and when to do things, whether or not I could afford to procrastinate. These kinds of stress I hope to be confident in accomplishing.
Daily stress to me is being able to learn and get a degree with my parents money. I think the pressure that I receive in school and at home stresses me out. Of course I understand they mean well but the way stress affects me would be the flight of the fight or flight response. I have a lot of memories of going outside to skate in order to avoid my responsibilities. Skating outside on the smooth pavement while listening to some Joji, I feel my worries lessen for the time being.
If I had more discipline then I feel most of the stress school gives me would not be so bad. However, I think I have too much on my plate right now such as bills to pay and my job. I understand now being a college student as well as an adult, this is something I have to go through in order to gain the necessary skills to survive in America. The things I appreciate the most is the time consuming activities such as eating, reading, and sleep. Imagine a scale. Balance is key.
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