A Daily Mental Health Checklist

Assess each day at bedtime. Did you....

1. Have any fun

Laugh at a joke? Thrill to music? Enjoy a friend?

2. Tackle a hard task

Did you work at something unpleasant but necessary, for at least a few minutes? If not, burdens accumulate -- laundry, unpaid bills, unfiled papers, unanswered phone calls -- causing stress, feeling overwhelmed.

3. Help someone

Were you kind, generous, helpful to anyone outside of your job? If not, a day has gone by with not one soul being happy that you are alive.

4. Work up a sweat

Did you run, walk, swim, bike, lift heavy objects, work out? Remember, you are an animal with a body, as well as a person with a mind and soul. Our muscles, including heart muscle, say, "Use me or lose me."

5. Enjoy nature

Did you notice a beautiful cloud, tree, lake, rabbit, mountain or flower? Note a warm breeze or chill wind on your cheek?

6. Feel close to someone

Were you in touch with someone you feel close to and care about? We need our daily dose of intimacy.

7. Use your thinking brain to control a negative emotional impulse

Did you walk past the ice cream shop, make yourself go to the gym, or prevent an angry outburst you'd regret later? Congratulations, you're growing up!

8. Learn something new

Michaelangelo said, at 87: "I am still learning."

These seven items are not magic; they are mine. Customize the list for yourself: add things important to you; delete the unimportant.

A day is the unit of life on earth. If you live to 70, you get 25,000 days. How many do you have left? Are you living the life you have chosen? Compare your goals with what your list shows as the way you are actually spending each day.

Each day is precious and irreplaceable.

Look to this day, for it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the relaities and verities of existence.
The bliss of growth, the splendor of action, the glory of power --
For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today,
well lived, makes every yeterday a dream of happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.

-- Sanskrit Proverb

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