Healthy Thoughts by Dr. Helena

40 days

Posted: March 13, 2019
By: Dr. Helena

Fr. Peter Omogo, asked the question at mass today, "What would you do differently if you knew you had only 40 days left to live?"

During Lent, as a kid I would give up chocolate, Twinkies (yes, I ate Twinkies) or eating between meals.  Sunday was a day of rest, which meant I could eat chocolate again.  As an adult, I see Lent as a time of reflection and an opportunity to make a positive change to my life.  You do not have to be Catholic to dedicate yourself to something for the next 40 days.  I have seen Facebook posts suggesting we eliminate 1 unused item from our house each day for 40 days.  We could also choose to do a 30 day detox where we work on cleaning out our body each day.

However, this year, I decided to add to my life.  There are 5 pillars of health: Relational, Financial, Physical, Mental and Spiritual.  We can utilize this time to reflect on the different areas of our lives and see what needs some dedication.  Where have we been lacking lately?  For the next 40 days consider ways of enhancing these five areas of your life:

(Relational) Write a "Thank you" note each day to a different person in your life.

(Financial) Put aside every $5 you get back in change into a jar and at the end of the month donate it to your favorite cause.

(Physical) Set a goal to be active with your kids daily.

(Mental) Set up various volunteering activities throughout the month.

(Spiritual) Plan on starting and ending your day with prayer and gratitude.

Lent gives us the opportunity to care a little more, love a little more and forgive a little more.  If we are willing to commit to ourselves, at the end of 40 days, these changes will just become a part of our daily routine. 

In our office we strive to create a community of love, support and healing.  Change begins with all of us and each of us are responsible for making our corner of the world just a little bit brighter.  Let's commit together today so if our life would end in 40 days, we can honestly say we did our best.

 

  

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