Bigger and Better

Most of us want to be better people and make improvements for our lives. The lists can be quite endless with how we could improve ourselves. While perfection isn’t a requirement, nor is it feasible, we can always work to improve and develop ourselves. What is it that makes it so difficult to eat healthier, keep our New Year’s Resolutions, and make the lifestyle changes last permanently?

Perhaps it’s because we have become to self-focused. We think about what we, ourselves, can gain out of making our goals happen. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying the benefits of being a better person, there are a couple problems that may occur when allowing one’s self to be the primary focus.

If we are thinking about how much better we’ll be with the improvements, we may find that the room for growth is somewhat endless. How does one define being healthy enough, being responsible enough, or just being a “good enough” person in general? There is no real definitive guideline, and we may risk finding that the goals don’t make us feel as happy and fulfilled as we had initially thought.

Keeping our families and communities in mind, in addition to helping ourselves is what can help us maintain our goals. It helps us because it adds more value and creates more incentive for accomplishing the desired improvements.

If we can change our goals to being more community oriented, we can see how others are benefitting from our accomplishments. With the added positive reinforcement, you are helping yourself stay motivated to achieve consistent results.

If you want to be healthier so your family doesn’t have to take care of you when you’re older, rather than you just wanting to look good, then there’s a deeper value involved. The same is true if you want to be more efficient with your time because you want to spend time with your family. We can choose eat healthier because we want to be in a better mood and positively interact with those around ourselves. We are then making the world a better place.

We have to work together as a society. Communities that value social time and collaborate together have less risk for mental disorders. It’s no surprise that over an estimated 1 in 5 Americans suffer from a mental disorder each year – over 40 million people. With racism, current politics, and in increasingly liberal view to selfish lifestyles, we’re moving towards disorder at an alarming rate. We can’t change the world, but we can sure choose how we react to it and interact within it. Positivity and genuine care goes a long way in finding peace for oneself.

For further related reading, please check out: Self is Second.