What are the traits of emotional fitness and why are they important? Having and maintaining a healthy emotional life is an ongoing practice throughout life.
These past two years have taken a toll on all layers of health. Emotional health and emotional fitness work hand in hand. Emotional fitness is important for bolstering mental health and for being able to come through catastrophes that befall at home/work and in life.
Resilience
Resilience is defined by the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. One tool in the toolkit to help us build resiliency is emotional fitness! Resilience is about having the capacity to learn from failures and mistakes without shutting down, escaping, or avoiding the consequences. Here are other traits we can cultivate to help.
- Self-awareness. Self-awareness is about understanding the triggers and biases that shape the way you relate to the world. Self-awareness is a pursuit. By building self-awareness, you’ll find it easier to tolerate frustration and manage emotions.
- Empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes. It allows you to feel what they are feeling vs. understanding they have a different perspective.
- A willingness to play and laugh. Adopting playfulness and laughter removes constraints and allows you to explore what’s possible and enjoy the “stretch”.
- Curiosity. Curiosity is about prioritizing your desire to learn and grow over your desire to avoid criticism. It allows you to understand and tolerate the differences between what you want to be true and what is true.
- Mindfulness. Mindfulness allows you to accept discomfort as it is and think things through.
- Communication. Effective communication is about putting words to needs and expectations while maintaining boundaries. It is freeing, respectful of you and others.
Respond vs. React
When life throws us a curveball, our ability to think clearly, take action when needed and recover from difficulties can be a challenge. Maya Angelou says it so well and I paraphrase here, you may not control all the events that happen, but you can decide how you respond to them.
Responding vs. reacting is a practiced skill. With practice and patience you can consciously choose to respond vs. react to any situation. Building your emotional fitness is helpful to getting ready in advance of anything life hands you.
From a practical perspective, think about the impact of natural disasters many communities have faced/are facing. Knowing you have emergency provisions ready to go, when a fire is close by, you are able to respond by packing up and heading out FAST! Insert tornado, hurricane, earthquake, flood + for your area.
Natural disasters occur with more frequency. In 2021, NOAA reports that The U.S. has sustained 310 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including CPI adjustment to 2021).
The total cost of these 310 events exceeds $2.155 trillion. In 2021, there were 20 such incidents exceeding $1 billion dollars. The information from NOAA can be found here: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/
Get Started
Emergency planning can bring a sense of confidence when natural disasters are nearby. Being ready to go FAST without advanced planning is stressful. Let’s make this easier for you to get started! Download my free evacuation checklist to get ready: https://bit.ly/3sEvacuation
Monthly Checklists
Monthly Checklists are a way for you to begin the process of taking care of practical aspects of your life. Each month, you will receive a monthly email with a checklist for that month from me. By taking action each month, by the end of twelve months, you’ll see the results and have documentation to share with trusted team members.
Begin your monthly checklists by signing up here: bit.ly/MChecklist
Making life easier while you’re living and for others after you’re gone is my mission. Reach out anytime by email: Lynn@thelivingplanner.com and/or check out all my online offerings, resources, and information focused on People, Pets and Business! Access Home Page is: https://courses.thelivingplanner.com
Decide, Plan and Act –Lynn
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