Moderation, Balance, and Variety
These 3 words are something that I see as being vital to living a happier life. By creating a life full of moderation, balance, and variety you will be building a more organised and positive outcome. It's designed to give you more motivation and energy, and keep each day interesting. It will not only help to reduce boredom but attract positivity and personal growth. Below, I have gone into more detail of why this works so well.
Moderation:
Everything in moderation as they say. Exercise, sleep, work, screen time, nutrition, shopping, studying, drinking, and all we do in our day to day lives should be consumed moderately. This is because too much of anything can of course be bad for our health, it's a no brainer. Too much working and studying can make us stressed and miss out on enjoying life. Drinking too much alcohol can damage our body and mind. Watching too much TV is bad for our eyesight and productivity and can affect our sleep. Eating large quantities of food high in fat, sugar, salt and calories over time will affect our health and general wellbeing.
By keeping all in moderation, you are still able to enjoy these pleasures life has to offer but in a more balanced and self controlled way. Overtime, people can develop addictions and obsessions if too much is spent on one task (for example binge drinking alcohol) and let's face it, it's not a healthy path to go down! Not only can too much of something be bad for us, it can make us bored, it loses its significance and becomes the norm. Moderation is vital for a healthy and happy lifestyle. And we all know too well that once we are addicted to something it's hard to break away from it.
Come up with a weekly plan to be organised. You could come up with your intentions, for example:
Treat myself to a takeaway on friday evening or use uber eats just once
Go to the gym 4 times this week
Play just 2 hours on the playstation on Wednesday
Walk to the shops on Saturday instead of driving
Have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner on Tuesday
Spend no more than 20 minutes scrolling through social media each day and set a timer
Only buy a coffee out 2 days this week
Limit spending on lottery tickets and scratch cards this week
Balance:
Everything in your life needs to have a balance. This can be achieved by being organised and similar to Moderation, can be done by having a plan to ensure you’re not only able to get everything done but also fill your time with the things you enjoy doing. Balance is all about timing, and not spending too much or too little time on what you do in your day to day life. It's about being organised and appreciating all that you have, and have to offer. Being balanced can keep you in a calmer state of mind where you are able to do all that you aim to achieve in a timely manner, by planning ahead and staying in the present.
In order to have a more balanced lifestyle, look at everything you do or believe you need to do on a daily basis. Ask yourself - How do I get everything done but still have time to relax, recharge and do what I Like to do?. Create a routine where you can schedule your daily tasks into one plan where time is created and shared.
Our diets are something that should always have a balance hence the term "balanced diet". When we have a balanced diet, we are still able to enjoy the food we love and crave because we ensure we are consuming the foods our body needs to function and grow. There should be no feeling of guilt if we have the odd Unhealthy meal as long as this is not consumed too often. Ensuring we take in all the foods and vitamins our body needs is important to improve our physical and mental health. Have a good look at what you consume daily. Do you notice you're consuming too much of one thing and not enough of the other?
With balance, we are able to help maintain relationships, friendships and connections with others. Then we are able to create a happy medium with the people in our lives, and it can mean we spend more quality time with them. It's difficult sometimes to keep everyone happy including yourself when trying to plan your life out day to day. Sometimes we will have days when something goes wrong or something major pops up and we lose that balance. We set priorities. But that's okay because life is just unpredictable. If this does happen then just prioritise what you need to do in that moment and come back to your balance when you are fit and ready. Don’t try to do too much, just let everything come together one day at a time.
Variety:
“Variety is the spice of life” - I’m sure you’ve heard that before, and it's so true! Filling your life full of variety keeps an open mind, keeps it interesting and intriguing, and attracts positivity. You always give yourself something to look forward to by changing things up. It's the way to avoid a boring same old routine feeling. So how do I have more variety in my life? Well here are a few suggestions:
Take a different route to work/school/college regularly if possible
Throughout the week have a different breakfast/lunch/dinner each day or every few days
Try something new on your usually takeaway order
Wear a different coat or pair of shoes when going out every few days
Instead of watching TV this evening at home - read a book you already have or listen to an audio book
Try out a new genre of music you're not used to
Buy a few items in the supermarket that you’ve never bought before
Say yes to opportunity when it presents itself. Take a leap outside of your comfort zone
Wear a funky colourful pair of socks one day instead of just white or black
You’ll start to realise there is so much variety out there, so much to discover and explore in the world. By living a life full of variety you are creating so many opportunities where you will discover more, learn new skills, and have a more open mind. If we stick to the "same old" we can become bored, and boredom can lead to poor decision making and results. We end up wanting more out of life and this can have an effect on our mental health and wellbeing, therefore giving us less motivation. By keeping open minded we see the world and our own lives in a more interesting way. By looking at each day as a new or different experience it gives us that sense of "wow". Going with the flow and accepting each day as it comes can help to keep us more in the present moment. Saying yes to the oportunitunity of something new or different offered to us you’ll find can be scary at first. This is very important in keeping stronger and lasting relationships and friendships, where many of us from experience know how important it can be to be open and ambitious, and to lower the risk of your time together losing its significance. It will inspire us and keep us motivated to think "where to next?". Create that enjoyment like a child discovering something new.
When something is new it's fun, interesting, and we are in ore. But over time many things tend to lose their significance. To keep life interesting and fulfilling, we must fill it with variety and a consistent change of scenery. This opens the door to new discoveries and adventures. It's a great tool as long as it doesn't make us feel overwhelmed with too much choice.
