Collateral Benefits
It’s been long known that physical well-being is to some degree paired with mental well-being, and vice versa. If you eat right and exercise regularly, you’re likely to have better physical and mental health. Yet these things in and of themselves are not all which define a person. Someone could eat the best foods and exercise daily for years but yet retain poor mental health.
Being properly mentally adjusted often means being properly socially adjusted. To have such adjustment requires regular social interaction. The conflict comes in human traits. It turns out people are not always in a positive frame of mind. There are many times where the best efforts yield negative social interaction.
People are quick to become jaded when they have reached out multiple times and either been rejected or had an experience that was less than pleasant. The problem is that life does not always provide an arena where healthy mental activity can be stimulated in a social sense. So many will implode on themselves when they’ve had such negative experiences.
From there, a downward spiral characterizes forward momentum for the reclusive individual. Regardless of exercise or diet, their mind begins to follow negative tracks, and negative behavior becomes normalized. The problem compounds should the now “rotten” individual encounter others similarly damaged and like-minded in their brokenness.
A Surprising Place To Clear Your Mind
Churches can help turn around negative mental habits. Did you know that having a giving heart has good physical and psychological side-effects? Caring for others is, in a roundabout way, caring for yourself. You can see why if you take a step back and examine the situation logically.
If you’re thinking about someone else, rather than yourself, this has a time-dilation effect. Until you’ve accomplished your goals as pertain to the other person, your mind goes round and round about the upcoming meeting. When you do something good for the person in question, now your mind is following that tack, and additionally in a way which helps you avoid focusing on the negative.
There are positive emotions that are associated with giving. Have you ever heard the phrase “laughter is the best medicine”? How about “will to live”? Both of these describe how emotional states can have a healing effect on the body. Well, being involved in a church puts you in a good, stable emotional state regularly, additionally providing you the opportunity to exercise a giving heart.
Stable Circumstances
Being around other emotionally stable people helps an individual calm their mental seas. When you get out by yourself for too long, you can forget what healthy social interactions even look like. Among a group of individuals trying to live for something greater than themselves, you may be able to find that healthy interaction again.
Also, many churches provide outreach to a local community. Such outreach has a cumulative positive effect that is good for those providing the charity, and those who are receiving it. It’s a win-win scenario.
Certainly, there are times when the best solution for specific mental effects may just be a nootropic of some variety; for which Horizon Counseling Services has many articles—according to one, “If you’re looking for a real version of the Limitless pill, you’re in luck…” However, in many situations, a healthy mental function can be facilitated through healthy community involvement.
Churches represent, they are a well-known secure location where you can find healthy, stimulating social interaction, easily get plugged into community involvement, and be perpetually welcomed with open arms by people who authentically care.
