Environment matters.
Where you live, who you spend time with, what you eat and what you look at during the day have always been important factors for our health and well-being.
But now, living with COVID-19, we are seeing it even more dramatically how critical a healthy environment is…and how our environments can change (for good or bad) in response to external factors…AND what we can do to modify our environments to make them work better for us.
Since March 2020, children around the world (and their parents) have struggled to adapt to the changes at school. Some have transitioned easily to online learning and studying at home and are now thriving. Others remain disinterested, disengaged, and frustrated. Still others have found out-of-the-box creative solutions to their children’s educational needs.
Sales at home improvement giants Lowe’s and Home Depot have increased significantly while other retailers are suffering. People are spending so much time in their homes and realizing there are changes they want to make and things they want to improve.
Environment matters.
I finally took time last week to walk around the lake that is near my new house. The weather was a cool 54°, the sun was shining brightly, the breeze was blowing across the lake, and the waves were lapping up against the shore.
As I walked, I cried tears of relief and tears of gratitude. This New York born, Connecticut raised individual who has a pitta constitution (in the ayurvedic tradition, it means I tend toward excess heat) has lived in two states I said I would never live in—Florida and Texas—for the past 13 years.
I worked hard during those years to develop wonderful friendships, engage in meaningful work, and take advantage of exploring parts of the country I have never lived in.
But the climate never suited me. I was miserable every summer (which, in Texas, lasted almost six months) to the point that I started traveling a few weeks every summer to escape the heat and humidity.
On one of our last nights in Houston, just a few short weeks ago, we hosted a socially distanced outdoor drive-by good-bye party on one of the hottest days in August. The heat index was somewhere between 110 and 115° that day.
I literally felt like I was suffocating.
Now that I’m back in North Carolina, and I’m already experiencing four seasons again, I can breathe.
Environment matters.
So where do you feel like you’re suffocating in your life?
Whether it’s your house, your car, your office, your circle of friends, the family you interact with, the neighborhood, city or state you live in…your environment impacts your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. If it’s not lifting you up, inspiring you, and helping you to be the best YOU that you can be, it’s probably time to make some changes. You may not be able to make a cross country move right away like I did, but even small modifications can have a big impact on your overall happiness.
Take some time to evaluate your current environment with these five simple questions. You can grab a journal and write out your answers or discuss these with a trusted friend or beloved family member. This would also be a great family conversation to have around the dinner table. Get your partner and/or kids involved in the conversation and see what shows up. Could be beneficial for all!
- What do you love about your current environment?
- What would you change about your current environment if you could?
- What’s holding you back from making those changes?
- How is your unhappiness with certain aspects of your environment impacting the quality of your life?
- What small changes could you start making that would help to improve your experience of your environment?
Seeking accountability for making lasting changes? It would be my delight to help you take action with a focused coaching session. Let’s get to the root of your discontent and create an action plan to modify your environment right away!
Elizabeth