Open the Curtains

Plenty of books and websites provide ideas on how to change bad habits, but what about changing your life instead? Who we are can generally be boiled down into a series of habits. We might see prominent habits in someone like indecisiveness, but the trait is made up of several smaller habits. Addictions are habits, but the kind that take over your life and permeates every part of it. Sometimes the issue is not addiction, but a person’s destructive mentality typically associated with depression.

Sometimes, somewhere along the road a person wakes up one day and realizes they have become something they don’t like for no other reason than their lack of movement. It is not natural to be stagnant and all things must continue to change and evolve. We cannot keep things the same, we cannot turn back time, and we must focus on movement.

Addiction is generally because someone wants to escape the reality they inhabit. This is a stagnant existence where nothing can grow or survive. Mental illness is also sometimes fighting against the tides of change when an agoraphobe refuses to see the world outside of their home, or an anxious person becomes co-dependent in an effort to stay close to one person.

We fight change when we stay at terrible jobs, in bad relationships, or just in bed for too long. Yet, this is a spiritual way of trying to row upstream; you only tire yourself out and get nowhere. Sometimes we realize this, but trying to change our lives for the future we want also feels like rowing upstream.

Instead of trying to make a major change right away, focus on taking small steps. Taking small steps, and celebrating our accomplishments helps motivate us to keep working until we can make that big change. For instance, if someone wants to quit smoking you will have better success if you work at it slowly over a long time than if you quit right away. As the body can have adverse side effects (I.e., increased heart rate) the medical community typically does not recommend quitting smoking “cold turkey.” Habits this bad are addiction and an addiction permeates every part of your life. To beat an addiction, you have to change every part of your life that it affects. If you only treat smoking as a bad habit you’re trying to kick but continue to hang out with the same people who do those habits too, you are not likely to quit.

Start with three small things and make them your mission for the month. I was depressed so I decided I would open the curtains, shower, and focus on eating three good meals every day. It was easy to wake up each morning and open the curtains and bathe, but the appetite takes a little longer to come back. That isn’t the end of the battle, but when I moved on to cleaning my house once a week, I could say that I already accomplished those three things so, of course, I can clean my house. Changing your life is just changing a series of habits. At first, you are pushing a boulder up a mountain, but when you get to the top and look back at everything you accomplished to get that far the boulder becomes the momentum.

It is also important to remember that you aren’t going to change three random habits, but small things that build towards a larger goal. It is well known that diet, and exercise contribute to a decrease in depression and anxiety. Everyone seems to know that a thyroid issue can also contribute to depression or anxiety, but a lack of vitamin D likely gets far more people than a thyroid problem. We obtain vitamin D naturally through sunlight and dairy products. Without vitamin D your immune system can be compromised, but it can also increase anxiety attacks as well as many other things. This is why opening the blinds every day, even if it is cloudy, works toward the larger goal of beating depression.

Go to the doctor. Peel yourself off of the couch and make an appointment to get a checkup, and have your vitamins evaluated. Fixing my vitamin D levels, and taking daily multivitamins has done more for my anxiety and depression than any SSRI. Some people find great help in medication and if that works for you then you should do it. I am suggesting first knowing what kind of shape your body is in and providing it what it needs to be in optimal condition.

In conclusion, if you want to change your life then change your habits. It starts just a little at a time, but before you know it you’ll be a brand new you. Keep up with your checkups and have your blood work done. Look at your diet and try to get more exercise. Beating addiction and feeling better seem like impossible tasks, but they can be done.