Feeling better: one step at a time

As I've been thinking about the articles I want to include in this series, I realized that  the most important one of all is to understand that feeling better is a process, not an event. It really is one step at a time.

I'm sure that over the coming years I'll try a lot of things, adopt the ones that work for me, and drop the ones that don't. Part of this is from the technology side, because as we learn more about how the brain/body work, new techniques will become available that will be better and more effective than what we know how to do today. Part of this is from finding useful bits and pieces from the large body of knowledge that we have today, the serendipity of learning from what other people have already discovered.

From a psychological standpoint, it is also imperative to take pleasure and satisfaction in each step. It can be daunting and imobilizing to see the gap between where you are and where you want to be. If you set small goals and keep working on heading in the right direction, it is a lot easier to keep going.

There is a wonderful little book about this process called Sink Reflections, by Marla Cilley. She talks about taking it one step at a time in the context of de-cluttering your home. The goal is to have your place clean enough all the time that you can invite someone in for coffee or tea whenever you run into them.

Her technique is to start with your kitchen sink: get it spotless and shining. Then keep it that way, and gradually move out from there. As you finish each section, you get satisfaction from seeing the progress, and more motivated to finish what is left. It really works, and it is transformational.

I've made a large number of changes to my life over the last few years (including cleaning up my place), and I've applied her technique. Make a change, and if it works then I make sure it sticks and becomes part of my routine. More than that, it means that as I make changes, they have to be changes that increase my enjoyment of life. I don't go to the gym and work out because I don't like doing that -- but I do build exercise into my life in ways that I enjoy (or at least in ways that are tolerable and that lead to results I enjoy ).

Next: Omega-3's