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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Thought for the Day # 51 - Tuesday, May 5, 2020

“Mental Hygiene”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
What is your rhythm of life?

When we are in confinement as we are now, even if we are talking about
deconfinement, at some point we may feel we have had enough. At some point
we might feel stagnant, like we are not moving ahead, maybe a bit discouraged,
and perhaps we begin to let go, to give up.
One of the things we might let slide is the schedule. If we do this, we might
soon reach a point when we realize it is gone…we no longer know what time of
day it is. We may not even know what day it is!
One aspect of mental hygiene, (there are many others), is to live according
to a schedule, that says please follow me. A schedule as you know takes energy
to get started and adhere to. Take a moment to stop and assess your own
schedule, to realize how it can really help us to swim and keep our heads above
water, and take a break and drift along to recover, so to speak, so we should
have one. A schedule for sleep, one for meals, one for walking outside, for
getting some fresh air, a schedule helps to maintain our sense of time.

We need a schedule to communicate. If we are home alone, we should call
someone every day! It is important to talk to someone. If you are at home with
someone, eat meals together. Let mealtime be a moment of being together. It
even helps with the schedule! We realize that we haven’t seen each other, but
we look forward to meeting when we eat together at the next meal. Remember
that our next meal we share will not only nourish our bodies, but also nourish
our relationships.

In the rhythm of daily life, the schedule plays a part in our mental hygiene.
Along with our times of sleep, or meals, or walks, we could add conversation
with someone. Each day is important. We need a mental schedule that takes
care of our mental hygiene every day.

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 62