I was reading a book by Joyce Meyer recently (see below) and just completed it the other night. A super quick read which I totally love when I like a book enough to blast through it. Anyways part of my relaxation/sleep routine is read a few pages before bedtime. It helps me get in the chill zone.
There was an analogy in the book about life being like a fish tank. I wanted to share this insight with you because actually it has been helpful to me and one of those “Ahhhhh” moments in my life. 🙂
In the book and I’m totally paraphrasing but the main point was look at your life like a fish tank. It will reflect how healthy you are.
So here is an exercise:
Shut your eyes and think of a big fish tank, you know the 50 gallon type that are typically in the Doctor’s office what do you see?
I see beautiful clear water with bubbles, all types of bright, vibrant colored fish swimming around, cool tank décor and then lots of healthy looking plants. It looks peaceful and relaxing. Do you see that? Can you hear the sound? I sure do and love looking at tanks like this.
Now at the opposite end of the spectrum is the sick fish tank ☹. How can you tell that tank is sick and has not been maintained or is overall doing poorly? The tank has cloudy water, algae on the glass and all over the tank. The fish are floating belly up or not really moving around and hanging out on the bottom of the tank barely moving. Can you picture that? I can….it looks sick and unkempt.
In the same way, our life or environment which is a main contributor to our mental health and moods are like a fish tank. It takes a bit of work to maintain a fish tank in good working order and guess what the same goes for you and your mental health.
In a healthy fish tank, the water temperature and quality need to be right. It’s a fine balance. There also needs to be compatible fish in the tank.
When a fish tank is not in balance, what happens? The fish fight and don’t survive (sometimes somebody eats the other ☹ ☹ ). It’s quite a struggle.
In the same way, when life becomes unbalanced whether it’s having toxic, unsupportive people around you and the self-care slips, it causes a problem to your mind, body and spirit. Depression, anxiety and stress can become overwhelming.
However, when one identifies underlying issues like dysfunctional relationships, puts themselves as the priority and corrects negative mindsets, they become happier and stress well when it occurs is easily handled.
So my question to you is how is your tank???? Is it beautiful and relaxing or sick and unkempt?
Here are some questions to ask yourself about your own situation?
- Is your home or work environment peaceful, inviting and relaxing or messy, stressful and dirty?
- What are the state of your relationships? Are they supportive and fun or toxic and demotivating?
- Do you take care of yourself or do you find yourself not having enough time for that in your day?
Answering these questions will help you be able to determine what can be tweaked so that you are happier and less depressed or anxious.
Sooooo let me know in the comments below what you discovered.
If you need some help with managing stress and self-care, click here to book a free 15 min recovery journey call
To learn more about me check out my LinkedIn profile
Comments are closed.