Healthy habits

What are healthy habits?? Morning walks  What Matters the Most in Life?  In the midst of the craze and rush of the modern world, many people...

What are healthy habits??

Morning walks 

What Matters the Most in Life? 

In the midst of the craze and rush of the modern world, many people forget the most important things in life. Many never learn to value those things until they lose them. It is this lack of getting our priorities right that is responsible for the rate of depression in the world today. Many people are unhappy despite the money and achievements they have. They keep wondering what is missing. The answer is not farfetched. They have forgotten how to live.

Here are some of the most important things in life that many people neglect.

Love ones

The desire to be rich and famous has made many people forget that it's lonely at the top when you're not there with your loved ones. Some people cry on the days they receive awards because they wish their friends, families, and any other person that matters to them were present. In reality, there are some situations in which we lose our loved ones to accidents.

However, in some cases, they leave us because we are selfish and don't have regard for them. We are busy chasing our dreams while making them feel that they take secondary places in our lives. King Midas, in ancient Greek mythology, learned the hard way that no amount of treasure in this world could replace his daughter. You don't have to lose your loved ones before you figure that out Happiness. 

Happiness is the greatest pursuit of man, even though many people don't realize it. The reason you want to chase and live your dream is that you want to be happy. Sadly, many people get all they want only to realize that they don't want what they got. In other words, they chased the big life because they thought it would make them happy only to realize that they felt hollow and empty after achieving their targets.

You don't have to possess a private jet or wear expensive clothes to be happy. 

Enjoying the camaraderie of your loved ones is enough to make you happy.

The issue is that many people have friends that don't value them because of the things they don't possess. Still, if you find yourself among people who love and respect you regardless of what you have, you will understand that happiness is in the simple things of life.

Health

Note that health is not simply the absence of diseases, according to the World Health Organization. It also refers to your mental and social life. Your health is very crucial to the quality of life you live. It is harder to be happy or enjoy the company of your loved ones when you are sick. So, you should never toy with it.

Your job schedule must not make you have less regard for your health. If you don't treat your body well, it will soon "go on strike" or "evict you". Your body is that landlord you shouldn't mess with. It wants to be respected, and you will wake up to a rude shock when you aren't doing what you ought to do.

Health is Wealth

Many people say the above maxim is almost becoming a cliché and losing its relevance. Nevertheless, it remains an important truthful statement that you can only treat with levity at your own peril. Health is wealth and there is no doubt about that. At least, you need it to make wealth. You cannot go to work if you are sick unless it is very minor. Even when it is minor, you will still find it difficult to be at your best when you don't have sound health.

Moreover, you need to be healthy to enjoy your success. What is the point of making all the money only to spend it on sickness? You should take an "excursion" to the hospital once in a while to learn some vital lessons in life.

There are many rich people in the hospital who are there battling for their lives. They have money but they don't have the sound health that money cannot buy.

The fact that you can afford an expensive meal doesn't mean that you should buy it. You should consider the health implications of the things you consume rather than their prices. Success is only worth it when you are in good health and can enjoy it with the people that mean the world to you.

What Makes a Habit Healthy?

We will end this section by identifying the qualities of healthy habits in order to help you identify them and avoid destructive ones. Healthy habits have the following attributes.

Beneficial to the Individual in the Long Run. It is crucial to mention that a habit should be beneficial in the long run before it can be considered to be healthy. There are many things we do that gratify our desires in the short run but are disastrous in the long run. For example, smoking settles the desire to feel calm in the short run. However, it affects the lung and other parts of the body eventually.

So, if a habit cannot make you stay healthy in the long run, you shouldn't let the short-term benefits blindfold you. Lack of consideration for the future consequences of an action will only bring tears and regrets eventually.

Beneficial to Others

When something is beneficial to you but hurts others, it's not a good habit. We have to be conscious about how our actions affect the people around us.

This is the reason the government of some nations restricts the activities of industries. The fact that a company is boosting the economy and raking in a lot of money doesn't mean it has the freedom to jeopardize our health.

We should apply the same principle when evaluating our habits. For example, sexual promiscuity might make you feel good immediately.

Nonetheless, it will hurt your partner emotionally when he or she finds out.In some cases, it might even affect the person physically if you infect him or her with sexually transmitted diseases from unprotected sex.

Beneficial to your Physical and Mental Health. It's in your best interest to consider how your actions affect both your physical and mental health. If a habit affects your mental health negatively, it will eventually take its toll on your physical health, and vice versa. So, the fact that an action doesn't have a direct impact on your physical health doesn't mean it is right for you. For example, you might be doing a job that doesn't demand too much from you physically. Nonetheless, if you are told to do unethical things that don't align with your conscience, you'll not be happy.

The feeling of dissatisfaction will become more intense when you realize that your activities are hurting people. If you keep having negative emotions, it can affect the way you take care of your physical health. For example, when you're not in a good mood, it's not likely that you have an appetite. The desire to exercise or enjoy sex if you are married might become affected. So, a good habit doesn't only have physical health benefits; it should also have mental health advantages.

Lifestyle Choices

Life is a game of choices, and you have to choose wisely. We should never forget that we have the right to pick our choices but we don't have the right to decide the consequences of our decisions.

Making the Best Personal Decisions

The quality of your life depends on the quality of your choices. Whatever you're experiencing today is often a product of your previous investments.

You don't have to wait until you are sick before you start eating healthily and working out. You can choose to have a culture of having a healthy lifestyle to protect your health both in the short-term and long run. Note that you are always making a decision even when it seems as though you're not doing anything. Indecision and choosing to do nothing are still choices.

You should be more deliberate about the choices you make because they all have consequences, which can be either positive or negative. For example,

you shouldn't just eat anything you can grab. It's a wrong approach to feeding that can make you gain excess weight or jeopardize your health. An adage says, "You are what you eat". Regardless of your perception of this statement, it's not far from the truth.

Your choice of food and how you eat it affect several parts of your life, including your physique and overall health. Nonetheless, your feeding habit isn't the only lifestyle choice you make. Your choice to commit to a daily workout or the decision to stay off will also bring its consequences.

Lifestyle Choices

A lifestyle choice refers to a personal and deliberate decision to carry out a behavior that may decrease or increase the risk of disease or injury. It's likely that you have made lifestyle choices already. For example, if you have decided to take a walk for thirty minutes every day, it is a lifestyle choice. In the same way, if have made the decision to stay away from alcohol, it is a lifestyle choice that will promote your wellbeing and help you avoid damaging consequences.

By deciding to avoid or reduce alcohol consumption, you are decreasing the chances of a car crash due to driving while drunk. You're also reducing the risk of liver damage when you make this choice. Ultimately, you are decreasing the chances of dying early. Besides, the stigma that comes with being known as an alcoholic can take its toll on your mental health.

Unhealthy Lifestyle Choices

Most of the lifestyle choices that have been mentioned so far are positive.

However, there are negative ones too. They can cause devastating damages to the person that has this lifestyle and also the people around them. Below are examples of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Smoking

An example of a negative lifestyle choice is smoking. It is a major risk factor for different cancers, including lung cancer. Smoking doesn't only affect the smoker; it also has destructive impacts on the people around the smoker. 

For example, the individuals around a smoker are also inhaling the coming from the cigarette. So, they end up suffering the same or even worse health issues. If you smoke, you're not the only one at risk. The people around you are also at risk because they are passive smokers.

Use of Firearms

The use of a firearm is also a dangerous lifestyle choice. It's not safe, especially if you have issues with anger management. You could hurt others and also yourself on a day when you are frustrated. Indeed, it can help in self-defense, especially in states where they are legal. Nonetheless, you should think twice before you procure one even if you are living in that kind of location. The fact that something is legal doesn't mean it is good for you. Seek other alternatives that can help you apart from it.

Drug Abuse

If you have a habit of taking drugs without a doctor's prescription or supervision, you are also playing a dangerous game. Drugs are chemical substances. Therefore, when you consume them, they will affect your body in ways you might never know. Most drugs have side effects. It's only that some are mild. Still, some drugs have devastating side effects ranging from pregnancy complications to constipation.

Some drugs, especially heroin and cannabis, can lead to addiction problems.

They can also cause hallucinations, thereby interfering with your ability to perform your daily tasks. So, it is in your best interest to avoid experimenting with drugs. Doctors and other professional medical experts are trained to understand the content of medications and their effects. Therefore, it is in your best interest to trust their judgment when choosing to take or leave a drug.

How to Break Free from Harmful Habits

The best way to break free from harmful habits is to avoid them. Prevention is always better than cure. Once you have started indulging in a habit, it becomes very difficult to stop it. Your body likes it when you have a habit because it increases its efficiency. However, wrong lifestyle choices can have devastating consequences. Therefore, you have to stop them. It's challenging to break free from a negative habit. Nevertheless, it's possible.

One of the best ways you can turn things around is replacing them with the right ones. For example, instead of smoking or drinking alcohol, you can find other ways to relax or take your mind away from the troubles of life. You can replace these habits with regular workouts or find a hobby. A hobby can improve your mood and make you excited such that you will not need the high that cannabis offers.

Be strategic about choosing a good habit to replace a negative one. If you choose an activity that doesn't offer you the perks you enjoy from an unhealthy habit, the impact isn't likely to last. For example, you cannot replace a bad habit that makes you calm with a good one that makes you excited. You'll still have the craving for calmness, and you may end up going back to the former unhealthy lifestyle choice. So, take your time to ensure that you make a decision that will stand the test of time.