Glorify

Could the behaviours, thoughts and values that you glorify be doing you more harm than good? A short and simple post inspired by some wise words from Sahil Bloom.

What we choose to glorify in life says so much about us. It can define us in what we do and how we do it. What we glorify can drive us on to new heights, to glories of which we might never have dared dream. But what we glorify can also destroy us, if we allow it to get out of hand.

It does a soul good to take regular stock of one’s guiding thoughts, principles and values, and be willing to change them.

It is never too late to choose a new direction.

I was reminded of this essential truth last Sunday (12 June 2022) by a striking tweet from Sahil Bloom (a gent of whom I’d never previously heard, but whose tweeted words I will now be watching out for, keenly). Sahil says:

“What I used to glorify:
100-hour workweeks
Busy schedules
Fancy ‘stuff’
‘Sleep when I’m dead’ mentality

“What I now glorify:
Sleeping 8 hours
Daily physical activity
Unstructured schedule
Daily solitude

“Freedom and control of your time is true wealth.”

Bloom’s words strike me as being about the need to recognise that we often glorify and are guided by thoughts, principles and values that will ultimately prove unhelpful or even destructive. To ourselves and possibly also to others. It can be all too easy to glorify behaviours that risk destroying your health and wellbeing. It is a matter of learning to heed the warning signs, and being willing to choose a new direction.

It is never too late to choose a new direction.

Life turned on its head

Since the start of this year, I have often felt as if I have gone through to the other side of the looking glass. My life frequently feels as if it has been turned on its head.

For the first time in my life, what I might previously have seen as ‘mere’ stress and anxiety became overwhelming, spilling over into all aspects of my life, and doing serious harm to my wellbeing. For the first time in my life, I found myself having to seek professional help for these issues. I am so glad that I did. I have written a number of posts these past few months about my unexpected mental health journey.* I made the decision to be open about it in the hope that even one soul might think about taking their mental health more seriously, even if just for a moment, because of my cautionary tale.

I have been overwhelmed and humbled by the unexpected support and the depthless kindness that I have found since I decided to be open about what I am dealing with.

I have found myself on a new direction through life and how I approach it, one that I would never have expected to find myself on. This path is neither simple nor straightforward, as I wrote in No words?:

“I am finding that the path through my mental health issues does not go in just one direction. There are stallings and setbacks. It feels at times as if I am stuck in a loop of unpleasant events, of moments I would dearly love to see the back of.”

This unpleasant loop of events is partly external, partly internal. I am trying my best to deal with the internal side. It can be all too easy to glorify unhelpful thoughts. The thoughts and worries that loop through and dominate your mind in troubled times are only as important as you let them be.

You can choose to think differently. When negative, self-defeating thoughts demand your attention, why not just let them be?

Let them be.

What behaviours, thoughts and values do you choose to glorify, in your life and in all that you do?

Could what you glorify be doing you more harm than good?

It is never too late to choose a new direction.

May you be nothing but kind today, to others and to yourself.

May today be nothing but kind to you and yours.

RESOURCES

• Mental health (NHS) Information and support for your mental health from the NHS.
• Information and support (Mind) Resources from Mind, the UK mental health charity.
• NAMI Homefront (NAMI) Online resources from US charity NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).
• SANE Australia Visit the site of this “national mental health charity making a real difference in the lives of people affected by complex mental health issues”.

FOONOTES

* I have written about my ongoing mental health journey in the following posts: Into the infinity of thoughts; Renewal; and No words?; and Mental health first response.

IMAGES

• Orange flower anther macro (7963821830) via Wikimedia Commons.
• Sunrise in Trincomalee via Wikimedia Commons.
• Sunrise by Stellenwerf via Wikimedia Commons.