Mental Immunity

Mental wellness has been in the news a great deal and we can see the world is upside down right now! The war in Ukraine, inflation, the markets, shootings, politics, etc. are all wearing us down and I didn't even mention the pandemic.

The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu teamed with author Douglas Abrams in

the wonderful work "The Book of Joy" to create a diversion to this current pain and craziness. There is a discussion about "The Eight Pillars of Joy"; four are qualities of the mind. Perspective, humility, humor, and acceptance are the four, and doing work on ourselves in these disciplines builds our mental immunity.

Mental immunity is all about reducing fear, anxiety, and anger with a dose of filling our hearts and minds with positivity. Epictetus has a quote "Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take things" and it really rings true. If we are able to change our views by staying away from unnecessary time seeking the news and viewing our phones it is a good start. A healthy perspective is the foundation of joy and happiness because the way we see the world is the way we experience the world. Victor Frankl said that our perspective towards life is our final and ultimate freedom.

I have to catch myself often if I lay in bed too long in the morning because the monkey brain will start catastrophizing my life and I have to use my mantra to myself "somebody please wake the optimist up there". Gratitude is easy for me to find when I chose to look for it. I am healthy and have so much to be grateful for and have to keep perspective. The magnetic draw of world events, politics, news, and negativity are pulling all the time and we must work to be happy!

I lay out my personal formula in my book for making sure my mental immunity is built by having a purpose in my life. I use the pyramid of prosperity to build purpose for my health, wealth, relationships, growth, adventure, and legacy. It works well as long as I am consciously following my own advice and I hope it is something you take a look at and does the same for you!

Mental immunity is as important as physical immunity in many cases and after all, we have been through we need to make sure we keep it as strong as possible!

How do you work on your positivity? Do you have a great hack for stopping negative thoughts in your world? If so we would love to hear about it! Send us a note or line and let us know at john.lohrenz@lpl.com or 858-535-1705.