Healthy Choices

PL Healthy Choices

Lights Out

By amelia kirkland

Recently, Moore County was subjected to several days of darkness. I don’t mean figurative darkness, but actual darkness, the kind that comes from no electricity.

I don’t know about you, but this caused me to S-L-O-W down. Having conveniences such as Wi-Fi, functioning clothes and dish washers, and LIGHTS suddenly ripped away from your grasp leads to a new consciousness. Suddenly, even the smallest of tasks had to be planned; the lightspeed pace of life had to be slowed and we had to make do with a lot less.

But is this a bad thing? Certainly, the forced blackout was bad, but a reflection on our circumstances and what we can learn from them is not. I saw on Facebook that a friend had finished a book that she’d been reading for a long time—and really enjoyed! I saw evidence of neighbors helping neighbors, a true coming-together as a community, reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic.

During crises, people tend to band together instead of driving each other apart. How can we retain that sense of calm, community, continuity, and love now that the lights are back on?

There are three principles—in fact old adages—that may be helpful here:

1. Practice Gratitude 2. Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You 3. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Let’s tackle gratitude first. Coming off the holiday season, you wouldn’t think this to be too difficult. Sometimes, however, we get so caught up in the accoutrements of Christmas that it becomes a chore rather than a joy.

One way to combat the anticlimax of the new year is to practice gratitude. I like to reserve five minutes daily, for quiet time to reflect on the things I am grateful for. I can be grateful for an umbrella on a rainy day or a beautiful sunset. I like to remind myself to be thankful for a hot cup of coffee and the smile of a coworker. After all, it’s the simple pleasures that make up a beautiful life.

Gratitude is a mindset as well as a practice. If you are a “glass half empty” kind of thinker, I challenge you to look at what’s going right in your life, rather than what’s going wrong.

If you practice this as often as possible, I truly believe that your outlook will soften, the corners of your mouth will turn skyward, and you’ll find a sense of peace and calm that can be difficult to cultivate in today’s world.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It’s the Golden Rule that we learned in kindergarten or maybe at Sunday school. When we’ve heard things a million times, it’s easy to disregard the message, but don’t bypass this one so easily. A scarcity mindset leads to discontentment and eventually bitterness. Why not turn things around by doing for others? During the county-wide power outage, we saw people helping one another left and right. How hard is it to bring that generosity forward into the new year?

Paying it forward is a popular notion. This involves paying for the order of the person behind you in the drive-thru. Other generous acts include letting a car in front of you at the traffic circle, holding the door for someone or simply offering a friendly smile. The possibilities are endless when it comes to doing right by your fellow man.

Don’t sweat the small stuff (and it’s all small stuff) is the title of a book from the late 1990s. The “cheerful little book,” as Amazon calls it, tells us that while there is a plethora of worries to occupy our consciousness, we mustn’t miss the opportunity to stop and smell the roses.

Recent scientific research shows that stress is just as detrimental to health as an unhealthy diet or lack of exercise. It’s as bad as smoking! In our fast-paced world, it’s very easy to get tunnel vision and see every opportunity as a “must-do,” which leads to us thinking ALL the stuff is big and scary and worthy of sweat.

Here’s the thing I’ve learned in my 50+ years of life. It will all be OK. Our world is flawed and there will always be some degree of suffering. But a little faith goes a long way. Once we accept that life will bring challenges and throw us curveballs, we are free to take life as it comes and not sweat the small stuff. None of us are perfect. Despite the highlight reels we see of people’s lives on social media and the cultural expectation to make it all look easy, it’s quite OK to leave the dishes in the sink, the dog hair on the floor and the mail on the dining table. It will all be OK. As my mother likes to say, “This too shall pass.”

PL

Amelia Kirkland has been an advocate for good health for more than 30 years. She is the founder of The Helpful Plate (thehelpfulplate.com), a company committed to empowering people to lead fulfilling, healthy lives. She is an avid cyclist, runner and student of Pilates.

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