Victor Frankl, in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, mentions the
concept of ‘mental hygiene’. Now, I had heard of ‘dental hygiene’ and ‘personal
hygiene’ but the concept of mental
hygiene was new to me. Hygiene is the preservation of health and
cleanliness. So, this idea of preserving mental health is fascinating to me.
Habits like bathing, washing hands, brushing, and flossing can preserve your
physical and dental health. Similarly, I wondered if I could develop mental
hygiene habits as well. Then, a friend sent me a link to a blog called
‘Desiring God’. While searching through the archives I found a list of “10
Mental Health Resolutions” by Clyde Kilby. I decided to ponder on them one at a
time; so here is the first one on the list:
1.
“At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember
that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space
with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.” (Clyde Kilby)
At first glance, I thought this
was about spending time in nature. The more I thought about it, I realized that
being outdoors was just the beginning.
On an average day, I spend less
than 1 hour a day outdoors. That means I’m in some man-made building 96% of the
time. Even when I’m outside, my mind is occupied with things I have to do, listening
to music, trying to walk around traffic, or doing yard work, etc. I rarely take
time to look up wondrously at the sky and acknowledge that I am a speck, on a
revolving planet, in a universe so vast and incomprehensible. I was created to
be a consciousness with a conscience. Yet I spend most of my time shuffling,
preoccupied with the ground on which I walk, unconscious of the wonder above
and around me.
So, my first mental hygiene
habit is to look up at the sky, at least once a day—to be conscious, for a
moment, to the wonder around me.
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