Re-Eval-You-Ate: Building Blocks, Tumbling Dominoes (?)

J-I-T: Yep, just in time, just before the Halloween candy gets consumed, just prior to the big feasting holidays of November and December roll in around these parts at least, just in time before your resolve to sustain whatever semblance of healthy habits you resumed as the pandemic restrictions began easing really get tested -- the resolve to continue exercising in/out as the weather turns following the leaves turning around here, to eat healthy (OK, just one more piece of your kid's candy), and turn off screens in the evening for good sleep hygiene. About ten months after you may have made casual or formal resolutions to get and stay healthy in any of these three areas, about a year after the whole pandemic mess had complicated many lifestyles, made it challenging for some to sustain efforts while kids were at home learning, and/or you, yourself experienced a change in work schedule or other routine. And, about two months before you'll be reminded on the radio and other media that "it's that time of year again", the time to formally re-evaluate yourself -- what you consume, how much exercise you (don't) get, the need for (at least better quality) rest. At which time, you might once again think to yourself, "Resolutions, healthy commitments, commitments to healthy living, they're not what they're...

Stacked up to be" Yep, while the HUGE number of HUGE container ships (a bit smaller than the "Ever Given" that clogged up traffic in the Suez a while ago, finally reached Rotterdam about two months ago) containing Halloween costumes you've already figured out will not be arriving and you've been negotiating with your youngster to pick a different super hero, and other things you ordered way ahead of time, being the proactive holiday planner you are, might not get here in time for the holidays as they are having, for reasons that are being hotly debated ("What are you waiting for, Christmas?!")...stuff stacked up...somewhere, just out of reach...in the meantime, until we have access to all that stuff, I offer you an opportunity, to think about the three blocks that I keep stacked on my desk, props that are always within reach, readily accessible, as are the commodities they convey -- namely, "Eat/appetite" (yellow block), "Sleep", (blue block), and "Energy/exercise" (red block), the colors chosen totally random (yet all are primary), no political statement, just which were within reach when I dipped into my stash from earlier childhood, before they were shipped to another user in a metal container (way smaller than those on the "Ever Given")...in any case, they represent, as I have written here before, the building blocks that form a foundation for 'healthy living' at any age-- that is, we (aspiring psychologists) were trained to survey these whether we are discussing the early history of a toddler, parents of a teen, or a 'super senior'...always relevant and always within reach, accessible to almost all of us for enhancing well-being...always the place I start. For, if the foundation is not solid, then...

Dominoes! Yep, after a demo with the noted blocks on my desk stacked neatly on top of one another, placed in front of someone seated across from me, or even in a zoom call held up to the screen, the point is easily made, the visual aid usually appreciated (this is where the colors come in, I guess), I then (literally) turn them on their sides, where they become dominoes (sort of, without the dots); if any of the three areas instrumental to well-being are out of sync, they can destabilize the other two, and then BAM, down they go! Doesn't seem to take as long to get them out of sync as it did to get them in alignment, does it? Not fair!  In any case these three categories always offer opportunities to stabilize well-being, always a place to start, always a way to re-evaluate. Not real glamorous, but, on the other hand, it can lead to lots of fun, as the net result, if these three are re- rather than de- stabilized, is...

Thrice as nice! Yep, as in better stamina X 3, as in improved physical, mental, and emotional energy! (the latter including the ability to better able to withstand stress, anxiety, etc.) Now, does it sound worth a look, worth the effort to re-eval, what you ate, what you...so you can be re-energized for the days, weeks, and holidays to come?