Spread Your Sunshine

At the beginning of the year, I went to the gym. Not exactly a novel January 1st idea. The workout was noteworthy, however, because I did not go to start losing the ever-elusive “10 pounds,” a past go-to New Year’s resolution. I went for mental health and happiness, one of my 2019 focuses. Last fall was exceedingly busy. The packed schedule from September through November is always a challenge. In 2018, though, the addition of awesome professional opportunities and a baby tipped the scales. To save time, I quit the workouts enjoyed since middle school to exclusively focus on the workload of my then three-person law office. What was then unknown to me, however, is that I did not create additional time, I worsened my situation. Although physical benefits are most-often associated with exercise, physical activity has significant mental health benefits, including stress reduction. Since I unwittingly eliminated a major stress-relief outlet, stress had nowhere to go, bottling-u