The 3 key elements that keep me happy and balanced: eat, sleep, walk, repeat.
That’s literally my life.
Why I bring this up?
Because it’s a new year and generally people come up with resolutions and promises to make their lives better and healthier and all of that.
I made a decision a while ago to not think of a new year in terms of good resolutions, but to reflect and see what worked and didn’t work and make adjustments as I go. To maintain the habits and routines I’ve already built into my life and see how I can improve them and which ones don’t work for me anymore.
Small disclaimer: I haven’t really cared for the whole New Year’s Eve “let’s make this night the specialest night of all nights and put a lot of pressure on it” tradition for a while now.
I watched the sunset in a beautiful little village in the south of Lombok and fell asleep at 21:30 on 31st December 2023. So, not too different from what I do on any other day of the week (except for the part where I was in Indonesia, of course).
Maybe that’s a good thing to start with, actually: the New Year’s Eve expectations. By wanting to make New Year’s Eve into a very special thing every single year, it might be confusing for the mind to be expected to be ready to kick off a whole new and healthy life the very next day. Because those are two completely opposite things. And I’m no expert on brains or anything, but I can imagine this might be pretty confusing for any human brain to process.
Anyways.
I will not talk about resolutions as such, or judge anyone who has them, because why should I. But I will talk about the 3 key elements that keep me going every single year whilst still adding on to and eliminating as I go:
Eat, sleep, walk, repeat.
The easiest things to do in life. With the best results.
At least for me.
And I’ve talked about my background before, but I’ll give a brief explanation for anyone who hasn’t been reading any of my other blogs:
I’ve suffered from an anxiety disorder from around the age of 11 until my mid-twenties. At least, that was when I was over the peak of the disorder. I still suffered from panic attacks and anxiety for the biggest part of my “rural twenties”. I partied a lot, drank a lot, had lots of (mostly) alcohol related anxiety attacks and I ignored the natural rhythm my body completely. I was on hormonal birth control and lived a pretty intense life in general. Up until my thirties I worked extremely hard combining multiple jobs with travel and filling up every single minute of my free time with social activities and/or more work.
And it’s not like I then all of the sudden had this epiphany that I had to turn my life around or anything, but that was the time covid hit and the whole world naturally kind of calmed down and went into that same routine:
Eat, sleep, walk, repeat.
And I’m one of those people who felt a huge relief that I didn’t have to make the decision to slow down life on my own, but it was forcefully made for me.
And just like almost everyone else I acted out at first too. During lockdown I still drank a lot, had little gatherings, tried to exploit the freedom we had to the fullest so there was still opportunity to numb the brain and make stupid decisions.
But after a year or so of doing that whilst being in lockdown, I finally slowed down bit by bit.
I got a taste of what life could also be about.
I was always considered a bit of a “grandma” with my early bedtimes and mornings, but that image was also often clouded by regular outbursts of extreme drinking with no sleep and days of hangovers. The balance was hardly there. It was more like going from one extreme to the other.
The urge for rest and consistency was there. Always has been, but I lacked the discipline at that time.
And it wasn’t until a couple of years ago the switch just kind of flipped.
I was done jumping from the relatively healthy to the extremely unhealthy side.
I chose to only want to have early mornings walks in nature, healthy food habits, and an equally healthy sleep routine.
So, that’s what I’ve been doing since. For the most part.
It’s the easiest routine I ever had and the easiest one to stick to too.
And I am not missing out on anything.
That might be because I also discovered I am an introvert and on top of that part of the 2% of people in the world with the rare INFJ personality type along the way, which means being alone is kind of in my nature.
So, no FOMO for me. Quite the opposite even.
I enjoy being by myself easily 90% of the time. Maybe even 95%.
And I don’t necessarily want company on my walks, during my sleep, or while eating.
I of course do really appreciate good chats, deep and meaningful conversations with friends and family, an occasional dinner or trip, but other than that I’m truly the happiest with a day of waking up early, going for a quiet morning walk, eating healthy and nutritious but also delicious warm food (no salads and smoothies, but pancakes and curries), a beautiful sunset, and falling asleep right after the sun sets. Without having seen or talked to anyone except for my housemates or random people in cafes.
I honestly think people should try to do this more often.
But I am also aware not everyone is like me. Hardly anyone is.
BUT: rest and routine are necessary and an important aspect of everyone’s life. No one can argue with that.
So, no need to go as extreme as me being happy with just a bit of sunshine and home-grown food, but small doses of these things in everyone’s life are essential if you ask me.
So, there’s that.
A simple life to quiet down a complicated and overanalysing mind.
It works.
So, my tips for anyone who wants to live a healthier and happier life:
Eat nutritious homemade meals with fresh and whole ingredients and enjoy the process from beginning to end.
Wake up and go to bed early. The circadian rhythm is the easiest and most natural one to follow, trust me.
Explore the outside world by walking around for at least one podcast episode every day. (And then try to ditch the distractions altogether, but you know, baby steps 😉 )
Prioritise these things in life and go from there.
Happy 2024! I wish you all the rest and joy and magical things this beautiful earth has to offer.
Xoxo Domi
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