Health and wellness are greatly impacted by what’s around us, the people around us.  Keeping energy high means understanding what our environment encompasses and evaluating what works in moving us forward and what holds us back.  For my people pleasers, how often are we sacrificing our goals to make people happy? Yes, those people are part of our environment.  We are greatly impacted by those around us, especially those we spend the most time with.  I read this quote: “The real reason you’re sad is because you’re attached to people who play hot and cold with you. You always make time for people who are too busy for you.  You give attention to people who ignore you.  And you’re too fucking caring for people who are careless when it comes to you,” Adam Cam.  While our environment entails more than just the people around us, people are the greatest influence on us.

This quote resonated in terms of connection.  Connection is a key component of our health and it includes so many layers.  This life is a web so we talk in terms of connection with self and understanding what we need, connection with friends, connection with purpose, connection with family, intimate connection, and spiritual connection.  If we are trying to connect with people who aren’t there to support us, we are going to feel depleted.  If we are constantly giving our energy in service of other people’s goals and meeting their expectations, we are going to feel depleted.  If we take in crap, if we surround ourselves with crap, we are going to feel like crap.  We can’t feel safe and supported in this web of life if we surround ourselves with people trying to cut our connections.

Health and wellness is all about the environment in its totality.  Food, drink, what we read, what we see on television and social media, who we are with, the baseline thoughts and feelings we have, what we wear, our stores.  All of these things have an impact on us.  This is why it’s so important to have a sense of self so we have a clear understanding of what aligns with who we are.  We need to understand how the things around us make us feel so we can move toward that which feels good.  We need to learn to recognize healthy environments and trust that we are meant to feel good.  We aren’t meant to stay stuck where we are feeling like crap.  The human mind has great capacity to create so why not create something that’s actually good for ourselves?  We don’t need to feel like crap, we aren’t meant to.  So if we have down moments, take a pause and look at where we are.  Look at the influence around us and make the decision to change the environment or change our thoughts.  It will make all the difference.