I’ve always known that exercise has the quality of making you feel good, releasing endorphins during a good workout and making your body look and feel better afterwards. Recently, though, I’ve been coming to the conclusion that exercise is necessary not only for your body/muscles, but also for other aspects of self: intelligence, creativity and emotions. Getting proper amounts of exercise in all areas can bring about a kind of joyful existence that most people would term “happiness” and doing without even one of these things will draw a shadow on your general mood that you may not clearly see, but will nonetheless dampen your experiences and prevent you from being complete.
For intelligence, I think standardized schooling sets a very bad example. Aside from focusing too much on rote memorization (rather than critical thinking), it is considered to be a structured part of childhood, that is, you learn while you’re at school as a child/young adult and otherwise (outside of school and after “graduation”), learning is not considered. Not so, my friends. Learning is something that we can and should be doing nearly all the time. This means that new experiences are desirable, such as meeting different kinds of people and surmounting different kinds of challenges. Sometimes you can learn the most from your mistakes (if you truly reevaluate things). There is danger in intellectual inactivity – when I feel myself starting to repeat, going through the days step by step without ever considering things, without approaching the world of ideas, without interacting, conversing, debating on that world of ideas, then I stagnate. My mind grows numb and my mood sinks. Just like when I haven’t been getting enough physical exercise.
As for creativity, not everyone is an “artist,” but you don’t need to be showing work in galleries to be creative. Creativity comprises a wide variety of activities, from craft-work to home decoration to designing fliers to organizing outings with groups of friends to writing in a blog (wink). This means putting your mind to use in making something new, even just a new experience for yourself. This creativity really provides a form of engagement with the world. We can do push-ups and debate memes to the ends of the earth, without ever being fully engaged in life; in exercising creativity, contributing something to the world, tangible or intangible, we fill a basic need and without doing so, we will feel a very subtle dissatisfied restlessness (one that can be mostly covered up by absorbing entertainments, but never satisfied without making some contribution of our own).
As for emotions, we humans are social creatures, as much as some people might like to pretend otherwise. We need to know we’re not alone in the world, and that’s not just seeing other people, but really connecting to them. Some people tend to engage more spiritually (with not just people, but nature or the world itself or the god/goddess(es) of choice), but it’s all related to our fundamental need for comfort and companionship. Spirituality can be one good way to connect with other people, through combined worship, but for other people, the connection to friends and family can be enough. This is not about face-time, however and this is not about dwelling in a single emotional state, this is about sharing hopes and dreams and sadness and joy. It’s about telling the truth and really getting through to someone and having them really get through to you (really listening, not just hearing) and really feeling it – sharing in their pain and joy. Without this connection and without allowing yourself to feel the ups and downs of life (preferably more ups), you’re going to end up bored and lonely. FYI, I’ve always contended that depression is just an extreme form of boredom – get out and do things (especially new things), break out of old habits and boredom will wash away.
OK, so we need physical, intellectual, emotional and creative exercise to obtain happiness, but how? There aren’t enough hours in the day, it seems. Well, for one thing, most people have jobs and this is a place that most of us spend a significant amount of time. Your job should satisfy at least one of these items and if it doesn’t, it’s time to look for a new job. Some jobs involve manual labor, so you’ll get physical exercise at work, jobs such as package delivery person. Some jobs require problem solving skills and/or efficient use of great knowledge, such as doctor, engineer or lawyer, which exercise your intelligence. Some jobs utilize your creativity, such as working in marketing or graphic design. Some jobs provide emotional satisfaction by working for the greater good, such as most non-profit advocacy groups (for animal or human rights) and religious vocations (priests, etc.).
Once you’ve got a job satisfying one of these elements, you won’t need to worry too much about that one in your free time (still, don’t neglect it entirely on your own, it can be twice as valuable when you’re not getting paid for it). Here are some suggestions:
- Physical exercise – find a physical hobby you enjoy and on days you’re not doing that, try to do something physical that’s not part of your regular routine (i.e., do some simple yoga stretches or sprint a block that you normally walk). You should avoid being sedentary for an entire day (walking to your car and the coffee machine doesn’t count), and it’s best to get significant exercise (20 minutes or more at a time) 3 or more times a week.
- Intellectual exercise – with the internet so accessible to most, this one should be easy – just find some information and learn something new. To really exercise your intelligence, you should be able to not just learn about the thing, but form an opinion and be able to express it. Find a like-minded friend (you can meet some on the internet) to discuss this, or else write it down (what you learned and your opinion of it). You can also learn by reading non-fiction books. You should have some intellectual exercise every week. If you prefer, do some activity or take a class in a subject that flexes your mind (such as computer programming).
- Creative exercise – try to do at least one creative act per week, this could be decorating a pair of your shoes with a marker, writing a poem, organizing a party or dinner with friends, painting a piece of furniture, crafting or taking a crafting class or just revamping the layout of your myspace page.
- Emotional exercise – try to really connect with at least one person per week, could be a family member or friend or significant other or coworker. Try to share something personal (not just talking about superficial stuff like the weather or sports) or listen to something personal. If you feel you don’t have any close friends, this is a good exercise to work on, but note that you should try to start with the listening part (and you can meet more like-minded people in classes, organized groups [advocacy or support] or on the internet).
Ah, the secret of happiness all laid out. What else is left? Now, I’m depressed. Just kidding! And I didn’t get into it here, but another key is diet – stop eating junkfood and unhealthy crap or else all this exercise will mostly go to waste. 🙂
