Blogging Truths Be Told: Your Life is More Than Your Blog (Part 2)

Well, I’m back with part 2 — all about you. It’s a little about me, too. Anything I share in today’s post is meant to make you think a bit and to encourage you to make bite-sized, incremental life-impacting changes for the better. And since I don’t have my stuff all together (constantly seeking better ways of doing things), then the same advice I’m handing out to you is the same advice I’m latching onto myself.

Before continuing on with today’s content, however, I wanted to suggest that you check out last Friday’s post here if you missed it. By doing so, I think you’ll get a more comprehensive understanding of what I mean by the title, “Your Life is More Than Your Blog”. But, I’ll also go ahead and give you a little clue here as well. “Blog” is actually code word for anything personal or professional that you’re letting take over your life, while you leave all the other facets of your life carelessly unattended.

And I’ve decided to distribute today’s content somewhat differently than the regular chunk-sized paragraphs I create in most of my blog posts. I’ve decided to present today’s content as questions in list format. Yes, my friend. QUESTIONS. The kind of questions that I want you to ponder over with action-oriented forethought, contemplate with all seriousness and sincerity, and meditate upon like the quality of your life depends on it.

Now, I’m going to split up your questions into three categories, regarding your overall well-being. (I previously defined “overall” well-being as consisting of the healthy functioning of the body, mind, and spirit.) All three focal areas of your wellness should be catered to in order to have the proper balance in your life. Extremes in any one area, while forsaking the others, should be avoided. 

The following questions are meant to help you self-inventory and identify those areas of your life that you’re neglecting and those areas that you’re micromanaging. That way, you can objectively determine the happy medium that can help create a sustainable middle ground for quality living.

Questions About Physical Health

• Are you eating a healthy, well-balanced diet?
• Are you remembering to eat or do your activities prevent you from eating regularly?
• Are you eating too late at night or right before you go to bed?
• Do you participate in a regular exercise regimen throughout the week?
• Are you getting an adequate amount of sleep (around 7 hours each night)?
• Do you pay attention to warning signals from your body that you are over-extending yourself (doing too much)?
• Are you drinking enough water?
• Are you living a sedentary life, where you’re not getting enough activity throughout your day?
• Are you getting regular medical attention (through traditional medical care or alternative/holistic medical care) to treat conditions that you may have?
• Are you finding ways to incorporate relaxation techniques (or rest periods) throughout your day?

Questions About Mental Health

• Do you take moments to unplug from technology and the information overload that you’re constantly exposed to?
• Do you ever get to read for enjoyment (non work-related or required reading assignments)?
• Do you participate in creative thinking processes like brainstorming activities that encourage free-flow thought?
• Do you have activities that you participate in for their sheer entertainment value?
• How often do you brain dump and free up some mental capacity to take on new information, endeavors, and challenges?
• When you view visual content, does it focus on positive, productive, and inspirational subject matter or does it focus on negative, destructive, and debilitating subject matter?
• What does taking a “mental health break” mean to you?
• Have you identified the types of activities that calm you down or keep you in a peaceful state of mind and do you regularly engage in those activities when you need some tranquility?
• Do you have accountability partners, supportive family and friends, and/or motivational counterparts to keep you in check when you seem to be veering off into unhealthy life patterns?
• Are you finding ways to incorporate relaxation techniques (or rest periods) throughout your day?

Questions About Spiritual Health

• What is your moral code derived from?
• Do you have a religious background and are you active within it?
• Do you believe in a higher power that is over mankind?
• Do you believe in a higher power that is in control of the universe?
• What does meditation look like for you?
• Do you find healing in visual and/or auditory content with spiritual undertones?
• Do you have an active prayer life?
• Where do you draw your inner strength from?
• Do you live your life according to Biblical principles?
• Are you finding ways to incorporate relaxation techniques (or rest periods) throughout your day?

Honestly, I could keep going on and on with all three lists, but I provided ten questions each to get you to think about the three areas that make up your overall well-being. And this question exercise is simply meant to assist you in truly understanding that your life is made up of so much more than the “blogging” or any one component of your existence that preoccupies the majority of your time and focus.

Just remember that it’s important to have balance in your life. There may be times when certain things take over and push the others to the side. It’s called priorities that take on some urgency. But once you have those all-consuming priorities taken care of, get right back to the balance beam and make sure you’re not teetering or tottering too much on any one side. Try to be even-keeled when and where you can. Your quality of life depends on it.