Series: The key to happiness, part four: Mental Health

The key to happiness Part 4

I have been fortunate enough to be a fairly happy individual. To steal a quote from Wyatt Earp in the movie Tombstone, “I don't laugh all day long like an idiot”, but I’m fairly happy.

I have always enjoyed educating myself through reading, doing, and talking to those who have done it. I have had many opportunities to speak with people in their 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s. My favorite question to ask someone of that age is “Looking back over your life, what would you say is the key to happiness?”. Time and time again I have heard the same thing from many people. Putting together what they have taught me and what I have experienced I have found that there are two keys with two pieces per key:

Health:

            Physical Health

            Mental Health

Wealth:

            Physical Wealth

            Mental Wealth

These are very important keys and each one has a lot of information to them. I will break it up into weekly segments. This week, Mental Wealth…

Mental Wealth, the most exciting key to happiness by far!

What I mean by mental wealth is building a life of fun, happiness and adventure. When I get around people that are in their sixties, seventies, eighties and beyond I just like to listen. Listen to stories they tell about their life and their experiences. We need to work on those stories now so that when we get to that age people will listen in awe. Mental wealth means the difference between being happy or just being a grumpy old person.

I have enjoyed many different things in my life. Being a husband, a father, a firefighter, a biker, a preacher, a businessman, a traveler, etc… I have enjoyed hobbies such as running, weight lifting, kayaking, fishing, hunting, archery, bowling, salsa dancing, etc… And there is so much more to do in life.

Now a person does not need to do everything in life to keep from being miserable but we do need to do things outside our comfort zone. I was at a leadership conference one time and they had an exercise of thinking outside the box. We were told to think of something that may be fun but something you would not be comfortable doing. I knew my wife likes to dance but I absolutely abhor dancing. To me, dancing does not make sense. I just wasn’t cut out for it. I like to listen to music but I don’t get into flailing my body about and jerking around in weird motions and movements. I don’t understand it and I don’t enjoy it. But dancing is what I thought of in this exercise. After this we were told to make a commitment to ourselves to do that thing that we thought of. My thought was “CRAP! Really? What have I gotten myself into?!” I did follow up with it and my wife and I signed up for salsa dance lesson. We laughed, we cried (well, she cried when I stepped all over her toes), we had an amazing time together learning to salsa. It is a fond memory I will have forever and a good story to tell for the rest of my life.

Really, doing things outside our comfort zone is what helps us grow our mental wealth. It is so scary and fun at the same time. I totally buy into the bucket list idea and feel that everyone should have one and actively work on checking items off the list. Sit down and make your bucket list today. Put some crazy, random things on it. Learn to salsa dance! It’s fun!

The point is just to enjoy life. Stay out of the ruts. I am the first person to enjoy being stuck in a comfortable rut in life but I have to always remind myself to do something outside the box to keep happy and healthy.

It is always good to have a partner to challenge us to do things like this and my wife is my partner. We like to tease that she is the grounded one in the relationship and I keep things interesting but really she pushes me to do some pretty interesting stuff sometimes.

Our community Pride group is holding a play and asking for male volunteers for a couple parts. That is really out of my comfort zone and I wanted to do it but it lands on the same weekend I will be out of town with my daughter. My daughter is going to be in the Miss Teen Kansas pageant. This is something fun, exciting and out of the comfort zone for her. I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Think of something fun… something that is out of your comfort zone… now, make it happen! You will have an excellent story to tell. I love to hear those stories. Feel free to comment with a story you have experience in your life. Let’s keep each other mentally wealthy!