Mental health. It’s what everyone talks about it but so many still feel ashamed to discuss it in-depth and openly. An issue so prevalent, taking the lives of many who feel discouraged, anxious, emotional, confused, lost, and hopeless. Significant people are made to feel insignificant, that no one listens, no one cares, or that they are not relevant, who seek answers within a “look-at-me” culture that is constantly screaming, competing for attention, placing focus on matters of insignificance, and demanding instant gratification. Whose mind could any of this be good for?
Aleksandra and Andrew are supportive of one another.
Physical health. It’s what everyone needs but ends up getting lost within it. Figuring out and relating to the excuses of why we can’t work out, which type of workout fits our body’s needs, and where is the best location to move your joints to burn the ultimate calories and build and strengthen muscle. Then there’s the list of ingredients your body shouldn’t consume as part of a special diet, topped with the vitamin and mineral deficiencies and necessary supplements to make up for the lack of it. The hours spent worrying about, researching, and stressing over vision, hair, skin, and nails, immunity strength, gut condition, aging, infertility, pregnancy, allergies, injuries …. It’s enough to exhaust anyone.
Spiritual health. Sundays are for church. Pray every day, even when no one is watching. Go to confession. Listen to endless sermons to figure out and fix your soul. Wake up and dive into the Bible. Meditate. Mark off the boxes on your spiritual checklist to be a better Christian. We’ve all heard it, been guilted into it, and questioned why it’s necessary. Yet, without it, we feel and recognize that something is always missing.
Children, teens, adults. Lives are spent in utter mental chaos, turning to things we feel we can control (but results show none of us can) while our weaknesses are feasted upon by addictions. Insert anything here: pornography, video games, sports, sugar, smoking, cosmetic enhancements, work, alcohol, spending, food, social media, the never-ending news-less media, thousands of channels of television shows and movies showing us how we could be spending our lives, what we could look like, how our houses should be set up, how we could feel. Comparisons are made. Emotions get supercharged. Discussions get heated. Loneliness and confusion set in. A self-destructing, degraded life consumes a soul and doesn’t breed answers.
For a moment, let’s pause. Take this all in. Acknowledge its reality.
HOW THIS RELATES TO OUR FAMILY & WHAT WE ARE DOING ABOUT IT
You’ve clicked on our fitness page, and you’ve just gotten way more than you expected. Well, surprise! From us, you won’t get the expert fitness plans that specialists and gurus are trained to provide. You won’t hear about trendy diets, be told to buy things to make you happy, or be preached to. You won’t hear the scores of ways to improve your mental wellness that millions of self-help books have already provided. Because the simple realization for us is this – we do what we are called to do, with what we have been given, and we know that we are already perfectly made to serve with our own uniqueness to fulfill our individual purposes.
Everything you’ve just read above is something we’ve either experienced personally or been a witness to. Like most, we’ve sat quietly and idly by, watching, waiting, observing, listening, and learning. This is now the time for us to begin sharing our understanding, hoping to inspire others to be a part of the conversation and learn with us as we sift through the noise to determine our individual purposes. Because everyone has one. But with so many distractions it feels like the mystery of a lifetime. We’ll be carving out quiet moments and keeping this blog as our journal of experiences, where we can pour out our thoughts, emotions, and viewpoints. We invite you to return back to this family fitness journal of ours and be part of the conversation as we learn about how we stay aware of each other’s mental state and what is needed to keep it balanced and protected, what we do for one another to be daily guides on our intended paths, how we motivate, energize and strengthen our core values – and what it is all for.
OUR GOAL IN SHARING AND WRITING ALL THIS
We hope you will follow suit by chiming in with your own valuable experiences so that other families can listen, discuss, and steer each other towards enlightenment thereby strengthening minds, hearts, souls, and relationships with a focus on families. No criticisms, just comments, compliments, and questions. We vow to remain grounded and rooted in the belief that we are all purposefully made and to remind you that your existence is powerful. We want to remind you that you are not alone. You have been placed on Earth for a unique purpose that only you are meant to fulfill. Your mission is to journey forward to determine your purpose and use it for good. You are meant for eternal greatness.
Aleksandra brainstorming this blog topic.
A NEW BEGINNING
Marriage and family bring about all sorts of changes. For us, the courting years were filled with anxiety over how we would raise any children we were blessed with since we have different religious backgrounds. Discovering our common core was crucial to moving forward. Shortly after marriage, pregnancy was an exciting time, yet the challenges of caring for a newborn kept us awake for endless nights. We both retired from our careers, yet neither of us felt it was the best decision. Add to the mix having to sell our houses and find a home to consolidate our belongings in that would be conducive to an at-home education for our child while looking for new lines of work and losing the flexibility that our relationships, fitness, and spiritual lives had.
While Andrew grew more and more depressed over retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps, I kicked it into high gear with planners, charts, timetables, and notebooks to sort out all our desires, fears, and concerns. Being a teacher, everything was color-coded. I read a lot, prayed, and journaled. Below is an excerpt from it that provided meaning and direction for the start of our family life that we knew we wanted to nurture. It gave us something to focus on, making it easy to tune out the noise.
An excerpt of our family life plan in general.
Then came the cleaning schedule since cleaning, organizing, and tidying areas are not only therapeutic for me but conducive to learning. It was a huge part of my own mental fitness. I can’t function if there are piles of paper, books, and toys scattered about! I stretched out all the housework throughout the week so I wasn’t overloaded each day. This method provided more time each day to be with family rather than focusing each day on cleaning the house. A schedule was set, written, stuck on the fridge, and adhered to by each of us (yes, even the toddler enjoyed cleaning time!). Housekeepers came in periodically to carry some of the load and to be sure all cleaning was completed in a set time. After one month, it became habitual.
Monday – CLEANING: Family, Dining, and Living Spaces
Tuesday – Errands
Wednesday – Wedlock Wednesday & Work
Thursday – CLEANING: Sleeping Spaces
Friday – CLEANING: Kitchens and Bathrooms
Saturday – House Projects, Visit with Friends
Sunday – Faith & Family Day. Unplug.
Serving our purpose requires building habits. I’ve kept my own Food Diary since 2015, which helps to track water intake making sure I stay properly hydrated to avoid unnecessary migraines. It’s habitual, so bringing my husband on board and later monitoring that my infant received balanced foods became a new, fun way of exploring new foods. I created an A-B-C solid food method, offering him ingredients beginning with every letter from A-Z, mainly monitoring for allergies, but also hoping the early exposure to various foods would make for an easier time with toddler feedings.
I maintain a Task List for our family. This way my husband can focus on his full-time job, our son can focus on playing and being a kid and the dog knows when to expect his time outside.
Laughter is necessary for the soul.
HOW THIS HELPS
Within our house, we keep things calm so stress levels remain down. We focus on relaxation, and reflection to periodically refresh our minds. We keep a prayer journal, daily giving praise and gratitude for what we have been given. We’re living in an area and time where the go-go-go factor is high. We’ve had to tell ourselves that we are not here to compete with others, but rather to go at our own pace.
Through this reflection, we’ve designed a logo for our family. A solid G wrapped in wheat strands symbolizes the growth of our family unit, hard work, walking with the Lord, understanding His plan for us, and serving him faithfully. A family logo displayed in our kitchen reminds us of our aspirations each morning at the breakfast table.
My focus words remain courage, strength, and energy. Those are written on the wall to remind me of the areas I still lack in my life so that I can remain faithful that if I’m to have these gifts they will be given at the right time. We take time for quiet. To just be. To be present for one another and in moments together.
THE GEER FAMILY DIARY & CONVERSATION CORNER
This blog is ours. It contains excerpts from our family diary, which we wouldn’t have others write all over but we are happy to share glimpses of. We invite you to carry on this conversation with us on our related Instagram post. What is your family doing to keep its mental, physical and spiritual well-being healthy?
Photographer: Casey Cashell