Intellectual health is the realm of our thoughts and our view on the world. This realm is where we express our creativity, generate new ideas and ways of thinking, and cultivate our general outlook on life. This is the realm that governs our decision-making.

Many aspects of our lives fall into this dimension: our career path, our choices about how we will live and with whom, how we define our general approach to life. Will you have a life partner? Will you have children? Are you a Democrat or Republican? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? While many of these choices seem to be "ingrained" within our bodies, they are very often influenced by torrent of thoughts that are continually moving through our brains.

"Did I turn the iron off before I left the house?"

"I have to remember that the project is due next week"

"What can I plan for dinner tonight?"

"I am so bad about remembering names!"

"Should I really go for that promotion?"

"If I don't do something about this now, I never will"

Finding Your Balance Point

The How To

The How To - Muscle Relaxation

And all of those could have been clicking around your brain in the last minute!

These examples are more "housekeeping" in nature. Often, these thought are mixed in with much more judgmental statements — where the judgment is directed at ourselves:

"Who am I to…"

"I'll never be able to…"

"I should be…"

"If only I could…"

"What was I thinking…."

These judgments are often based on other thoughts that we generate, which are based on other thoughts, which are based on other interpretations…and on and on. They feel true because we are thinking them, but they would fail an external logic examination.

What does your internal dialogue tell you? Have you ever really paid attention to all that you tell yourself? What is the content of your thoughts?

**Take 5 minutes and close your eyes. What's running through your head?

As you take a survey, what are you finding? If you were to take this same survey during a stressful time, an exciting time, a fearful time, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a conversation with someone, what would you find?

• What is the overall tone of your thoughts? Are you the proverbial "it's half full" or "half empty" person?
• Do your thoughts reflect a sense of humor about the day's events?
• Are you generally open to new ideas?
• Do you challenge yourself to continue to learn new things?
• Do you feel over-challenged?
• Do you find ways to include creativity in your day?
• Are you able to stop the stream of negative thoughts when they do come your way?
• Do your thoughts generally propel you forward, or hold you back like a set of tight reins?

As with all the other factors that make up your overall health, your health in this dimension is determined by the balance you are able to achieve. Just being aware of this inner dialogue can be enough to keep the balance. Simply asking, "is that really true" when confronted with a judgmental thought can turn the tide from feeling out of control to in control. As you allow yourself to challenge any "untrue" thoughts, you will be able to further develop balance in this dimension by opening up to new ideas. This in turn will help create optimism and perhaps even more of a sense of humor about life's darker moments.

Often this dimension is in conflict with other dimensions. How many times have you spoken one thing, but felt or thought the opposite? How many times have you done something because it was the "right thing to do" or because you "had to" even though that action created a heaviness or sense of regret?

As we reach the end of the 6 dimensions, you can really begin to see how each dimension is interconnected; as with so many things in life, you really can't separate out one from another. Next month's column will be dedicated to one last look at the dimensions. We will explore the interconnections and determine your individual balance point to create a sense of health and quality of life.