Ways to Make Your Life Better

Humans are complex creatures who need continual growth, stimulation and healthy relationships in order to achieve our full potential. If one or more of these areas is lacking, you can suffer from depression and illness. Caught up in work and social duties, you may neglect your duty to yourself. To make your life better, make quality personal time a priority.

Exercise

• Regular exercise has many benefits that will help improve the quality of your life. First, it helps maintain your health and lessens your chance of illness and disease. Your health is the most important thing you have. You could have the entire world, but if you were not healthy and able to enjoy it, it would mean nothing. Second, regular exercise keeps your body fit. When you are in shape, you feel more confident and comfortable in your skin. You look good and feel good about yourself. Third, stress and emotions cause the release of various hormones in your body that can make you feel anxious and depressed. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins in your brain that combat these feelings and release your stress, leaving you happy and relieved.

Connect

• Connect with your friends and family, and you will be happier. Humans are social creatures who need and benefit from personal relationships. Nurture your relationships and find time to spend with your husband, wife, parents, grandparents, siblings and friends. Others in your life have much to offer. You can learn from each others' experiences and share in each others' knowledge. Nurturing and developing loving relationships brings joy and true wealth into your life.

Learn

• Learn something to improve your mind. The world offers many fascinating things to discover. Take a new class and study something that has always interested you. A new class will introduce you to a new way of thinking and to people who will keep you sharp. Classes challenge you to create new ideas and to grow in ways you would not otherwise. New knowledge brings energy and excitement. It encourages curiosity and passion for life. Studying something of interest helps keep you young and humble and broadens your understanding of life, the world and yourself.

Travel

• The world is vast, and it is the ultimate dreamscape. Travel the world. Experience the jungle and the desert, the oceans and the mountains, and the forest and the ancient cities. When you travel, you see places you have never dreamed of. You meet people who are different from anyone near your home, and you develop an appreciation for different cultures. Travel teaches respect and instills a deep gratitude in you for your life and everything that you have. People often take life for granted. When you see how people live in other parts of the world, you gain a perspective shift that allows you to see your life from a truer, more grounded sense of reality.

Spirit

• Blaise Pascal said, "All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone." Take time for yourself to sit in silence, to meditate, or to pray. Doing so helps you find peace in your heart and in your mind. Get away from the noise and overstimulation of cell phones, computers and TV. These devices are helpful for us in society, but too much of them can cause anxiety and mental chaos. Your mind needs time to rest, step back and breathe. Spend time in nature. Visiting forests, beaches or just gazing at the sky can be healing. It calms the spirit and allows you to come back to yourself and get in touch with how you feel. Often a lot of your stress and anxiety goes overlooked and unacknowledged. Take some quiet time alone to nurture your spirit.