Lessons from 2021 about Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual health?

As we wind down 2021, what can we learn about our Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual health?

Welcome to Be Well and Stay Healthy blog. It's been a few years since I've written new posts. But since retiring 6 months ago, I've reviewed, and updated my previous posts, and hope to provide more frequent postings in the future. I continue to be inspired by Brant Cartwright's book “The Neurgenesis Diet and Lifestyle” In his book he addresses in detail these four areas of our life for maintaining health.

We are two years into this COVID-19 and I don't need to remind anyone that this has been a crazy year and has affected all of us in very significant ways. My family and I have not been immune to the illness, but I am grateful to God for the health he has given us. I have lost friends however, to the illness, and recognize the pain, sadness, and grief associated with illness and death. I extend heartfelt condolences to those reading this who may have lost loved ones to this illness.

What We Can Learn About Our Physical Health

We had high hopes that we would start the 2021 year by ending the pandemic and moving forward to a normal life. But not so! This has affected the physical health of many of us in many ways. This virus is not immune to anyone, rich or poor, social class, race, religion, or political position. Quarantining, remote learning, working from home has all attributed to the decline of physical health. Having said that, its important that we treat this virus as a medical issue and take the necessary precautions to stay healthy physically.

Let me be clear. My identity is not in being anti or pro-vax, anti or pro-mask. Nor do I adhere to any political party. My identity and primary focus and allegiance is instead to Jesus and His kingdom. I am a child of God, who knew me before I was born. I am His child and pledge my allegiance to Him.

So, we learn that the best defense to maintaining our physical health is a preventative approach. This of course is not a guarantee to preventing illness, but it is, in my opinion, the best defense during a pandemic. In my experience, the basics of a good diet, daily exercise, and good sleep are crucial to staying physically healthy and warding off any disease you may be fighting.

A Good Diet

Eating moderate carbs, higher protein and cutting out sugar, and white flour are beneficial in keeping good physical health. These are the basics of a diabetic diet but also can be a beneficial diet for many. According to https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dphs/nhp/documents/sugar.pdf

"Two hundred years ago, the average American ate only 2 pounds of sugar a year. In 1970, we ate 123 pounds of sugar per year. Today, the average American consumes almost 152 pounds of sugar in one year. This is equal to 3 pounds (or 6 cups) of sugar consumed in one week!"

These are some sobering numbers, and we could improve our physical health if we would only would our sugar intake.

Daily Exercise

One of the things I have added to my daily routine is walking two miles a day and doing upper body resistance exercises. I am using the Super Bungees . They are a great product and are also great to take with you when traveling. Most experts say one should exercise 30 minutes a day for optimal health. Please consult with your medical provider before changing diet or exercise.

Quality Sleep

Has anyone had trouble sleeping this past year? With the huge change in routines many can identify with this. I believe getting adequate sleep is one of the most important factors in being well and staying healthy. In my own life, when I don’t get enough sleep, the next day can feel tired and irritable. There are also phenomenal neurological things happening in the brain when we get seven hours or more of sleep per night. According to the National Institutes of Health the following chart (under subtitle "how much sleep is enough?") shows recommended sleep times per age groups. There are numerous over the counter sleep aid available. Please check with your medical provider or pharmacist before starting one. Here are a few sleep aids our household has used.

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What Can We Learn About Our Emotional Health?

2021 has been an emotionally roller coaster year; vaccines, quarantines, booster. family and friend relationships. How can we maintain emotional wellness in the midst of such circumstances? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Understand The Nature of Our Emotions

The center of our emotions lies in the limbic system of the brain. Our emotions are neither good nor bad. They just are. The emotion of anger for example is not always a bad thing. How you react to anger may be a good or bad thing. Being angry at injustices in our world for example, can be motivation to doing something about it.

The limbic system is located in the center region of our brain. It is the center of our emotions and is responsible to guide us and give direction to many aspects of life. The limbic system gets messages from thoughts that we have in the prefrontal cortex, translates those messages into action and sends those messages to the brain stem, which drives our actions and behavior. Emotions help us understand and interpret our world. For more info on this see my previous post The Triune Brain ) . So, the answer to how to maintain emotional wellness lies in our thoughts. This brings us to the next area of health.

What Can We Learn About Our Mental Health?

During a pandemic where we are inundated with information, more information than our mind can handle, it is crucial we:

Exercise Critical Thinking

Filtering the news, reports, social media, and even messages we are receiving from friends and family is crucial to guarding our minds. The primary region of the prefrontal cortex is where reason, thoughts, calculation, language, and problem-solving skills originate. (see The Triune Brain ) This is the region where thoughts are created and where we do critical thinking. It is crucial for maintaining a healthy mental state to think on good things. For myself, this means limiting how much news and social media I take in. The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:8-9

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Neuroscience now tells us that the brain, especially the mind and prefrontal cortex, does not fully develop until one is 25 years old. Our brain develops from the bottom up beginning at birth with the brain stem, followed by the limbic (emotional) system, and lastly fully develops in the prefrontal cortex area.

Here, at National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), there are numerous articles reporting on the rise in anxiety, depression, suicide and overdoses during these last 2 years. 2021 has taken it tole on the mental health of those affected by this pandemic.

Engage in Connecting with Others

We were created for being connected with others. This pandemic has taught us that being separated from family, friends and other church members for an extended period of time is not good. I had a granddaughter born in early 2020 and due to complications in travel restrictions, I was not able to meet her face to face until she was 15 months old. It was hard and created some anxious moments in my life. I am very thankful that now we do live in the same community, and it has been a tremendous blessing to be connected again with family.

That inner desire to be connected and be in relationship is from God. In fact, when he created humans, they were originally in perfect unity and relationship with him. This brings us to the fourth lesson we can learn.

What Can We Learn About Our Spiritual Health?

During 2021, God has taught me that He is faithful. In spite of covid-19, delta, omicron, the fledging economy, disrupted education system, lockdowns, and frayed relationship, I am more convinced than ever that God, the creator of the universe is still in control. Genesis 1:1 says that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" CSB . God is still in control of what is happening and is not surprised. He is the sovereign all-knowing God. What God longs for from the people he created is for them to come back in relationship with him. No matter what happens around us, I am secure in my relationship with God. Let me share why I am secure in my relationship with Jesus and because of that, have no fear of the future.

1. God Created the first human beings without sin.. He first created Adam the first man. In Genesis 1:26 CSB it reads "Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness." . Then he created the first woman, Eve. After God created Eve, Adam stated, in Genesis 2:23 "And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man.

2. Adam and Eve lived in perfect unity with God until they sinned. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to care for all his creation. He said they may freely eat of any tree except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They disobeyed and ate from the tree. This resulted in death for the human race. As a result, they, and all people since then are separated from God. You can read about this in Genesis chapter 3 https://www.bible.com/bible/1713/GEN.3.CSB

3. God provided temporary atonement for sin for thousands of years through the animal sacrifices, until Jesus the Son of God humbled himself and became a man. Right now, we are in the Christmas season, and it is a great time to be reminded of baby Jesus' birth. He was born of the virgin Mary, grew up as a child, adolescent, and adult.

4. He died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin. He died as the ultimate and once for all sacrifice so that you and I would have eternal life and be back in relationship with God again. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:9 that " If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

5. After being in the tomb for 3 days, Jesus, defying death, rose from grave and is alive today. He ascended to heaven and is preparing a place for his church, for those who confess their sin, believe in him and what he did on the cross. They will be reunited with Jesus, either when they physically die or when He comes back to earth again for his church.

I am secure in my relationship with Jesus and because of that have no fear of the future as we face the year 2022. If you are reading this and want to learn more about God's plan for you, I would encourage you to read the account of Jesus' life by reading the book of John. Also here is a great Bible app I have been using for a number of years and would highly recommend: https://www.bible.com/app

Wishing you all a Happy New Year. And be well and stay healthy my friends.

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