Our Parents Were Right

In the past few weeks I've been composing articles for a column on mental health that I write weekly for our local newspaper.  The focus of the pieces has been how we can preserve our good mental health and avoid developing serious psychiatric conditions or stress and burnout.  I do a lot of research for each topic and I'm realizing I shouldn't be surprised at the information I've turned up for this series.

It turns out our parents were right.  I hope your parents gave you the kind of sensible and wise advice that mine have always given me.  When I was a teenager, I sometimes thought I knew how to take care of myself; now I recognize that I knew it so well because they had taught me those things when I was younger still.

My research shows that healthy sleeping habits, a balanced diet, regular exercise, alcohol in moderation, and no "recreational" drug use is the path to mental, emotional, and physical health.  It also suggests that to remain healthy, I should focus on thinking positively and practice my faith regularly.  A varied social life and some volunteer work are also more likely to optimize my wellbeing.

This is one of my favourite pictures of them, taken within a couple of weeks of their 55th anniversary.

Well, what do you know?  My parents either told me outright or modeled all of these in their own lifestyles while I was young!  A good part of my research findings were just what I call common sense.  And where did I get that from?  My mother and father, of course.