Chapter 3: Intellectual and Spiritual Health
The last Saturday of November 2017 was mild when I visited my childhood friends Sarah, James, and Henri at their apartment in Oakland, along with one of my other friends, Carly Shay and her parents, Sam and Freddie, as well as my best friend, Emily Mistle. "Hi, guys!" I greeted my friends. "Hi, Angel!" Sarah greeted back. "We're going to end our meeting a little bit early today, guys," James informed us. "Why is that, James?" Mrs. Shay asked. "So we can go to the Milkshake Factory on the South Side to celebrate my birthday," Sarah added. "Oh right," Carly remembered. "Next Thursday is your birthday. Well, happy birthday, Sarah!" "Thanks, Carly," Sarah replied. "So, do you know where you're going from here, James?" Mrs. Shay asked. "Of course I do, Mrs. Shay," James replied. "I have been learning to drive a BMW ever since just before I turned 16 years old. As a matter of fact, I believe that the driving lessons improved my intellectual health!" "What is intellectual health?" Mrs. Shay asked. "Intellectual health is defined as active participation in scholastic, cultural, and community activities," I informed everybody. "Now, what do you guys think of when you think of intellectual health?" "What you think about," Carly replied. "How to keep yourself mentally awake," Mrs. Shay added. "Talking about the mind," Mr. Benson chimed in. "Okay," I agreed with everyone. "Now, why is maintaining your intellectual health important?" "We need to know more about the world around us," Emily replied. "It keeps us out of trouble," Sarah replied. "It helps us teach others," James added. "It also helps keep your mind sharp," Henri chimed in. "Good," I agreed with my friends. "What are some activities that you guys can do to increase your intellectual health?" "I read for fun," Henri replied. "I limit the time I spend looking at screens," James added. "I visit a museum," Sarah replied. "I listen to an informative podcast," Mr. Benson added. "I play a game," Mrs. Shay added. "I play an instrument, like my clarinet," Carly replied. "I journal," Emily replied. "I like to do a crossword or sudoku," I told my friends. "I also think it was very good how you decided to cut our meeting short so we could go out for Sarah's birthday, James. That is a good use of time management skills." "Yes, because time management is very important," James agreed, "and so is Sarah's birthday." "Do you guys have any general tips about time management for me?" "You should know your goals, as your daily plan should revolve around working on tasks and activities that directly relate to things that you need to do," Henri replied. "You should prioritize wisely, meaning looking at what goes into making up your day, where do your activities fit into these categories?" "Right, Sarah," Emily agreed. "There are important and urgent tasks, which must be done, and we need to do right away. Important, but not urgent, tasks appear important, but upon closer examination are not, and we must decide when to do them. Urgent, but not important, tasks make the most 'noise,' but when accomplished, have little or no lasting value, and we need to delegate these if possible. Tasks that are not urgent and not important are low-priority stuff that offer the illusion of 'being busy', and we should do them later." "I write down my three or four 'important and urgent' tasks that must be addressed today, and as I complete each one, I check it off my list, as this will provide me with a sense of accomplishment and can motivate me to tackle less essential items," Sarah pointed out. "You should just say no because you are the boss," James added. "If you have to decline a request in order to attend to what is truly important and urgent, do not hesitate to do so." "You should plan ahead," Mrs. Shay added. "The night before, at the end of the day, you should take 15 minutes to clear your desk and put together a list of the next day's most pressing tasks. It's a great decompression technique, and you'll feel better sitting down at a clean desk in the morning. Then, first thing in the morning, you should arrive a few minutes early and assemble your prioritized to-do list, as this may prove to be the most productive part of your day." "You should also eliminate distractions," Mr. Benson chimed in, "since your smartphone is extremely useful, but it is also addictive and among the most insidious time-wasters known to mankind." "Finally, you should take care of yourself by being sure to get plenty of sleep and exercise," Carly pointed out, "since an alert mind is a high-functioning mind and one that is less tolerant of time-wasting activities." Then, Mrs. Shay had a time management activity for us to do. First, we divided into two teams. Sarah, Carly, Emily, and I formed one team, while James, Henri, Mrs. Shay, and Mr. Benson formed another team. We all had 10 minutes to do these following tasks: do a lap around the room, create something for me to wear, such as a hat or tie, as well as find out something unique about each person on the team, sing a song together, make a paper airplane and throw it from one end of the room to another, get everyone in the room to sign a single piece of paper, count the number of pets owned by our group, assign a nickname to each member of the team, create name cards for each team member, make a tower out of the materials owned by our group, convince a member of another team to join us, name our team and come up with a slogan, re-create the sounds of the Amazon rainforest with the sounds of our voices, make a list of what our team wants out of the group, and finally, form a conga line and conga from one end of the room to another. "Our teams decided what tasks to do first by randomness, higher points, and in order of quickness," I stated. "Teamwork, compromise, flexibility, leadership, and taking turns were examples of group dynamics that came into play," Emily added. "Now, let's talk about spiritual health, which is defined as a personal matter involving one's own values and beliefs that provide purpose and meaning in our lives," I informed my friends. "Now, what do you guys think of when you think of spiritual health?" "Good vs. evil, like yin or yang," Sarah replied. "Religion," Emily added. "Soul," Carly added. "Feeling content," Mrs. Shay added. "Mindfulness and relaxation," James added. "Philosophical," Mr. Benson chimed in. "Logical," Henri chimed in. "Emily, does spiritual health mean we are talking about religion?" I asked Emily. "Not entirely," Emily answered. "What are some ways to increase your spiritual health?" I asked my friends. "By helping out and giving back," Sarah replied. "By avoiding toxic people and foods," Henri chimed in. "By making meaningful relationships," James added. "With tranquility and not being in a tempered mood," Emily answered, "by mindfulness, meditation, taking deep breaths, walking away, compromise, and acceptance." "By prayer and going to a religious ceremony," Mr. Benson chimed in. "By kind thoughts towards myself and others, also known as positive reframing," Carly replied. "By reaching out and talking to others," Mrs. Shay added. She also had a spiritual health activity, as our religious faith, values, beliefs, principles, and morals defined our spirituality, so we ended up interviewing each other to learn a little more about ourselves and each other. I paired up with Carly for the interview. Of the things we possessed, I valued my wardrobe the most, while she valued her education. An important turning point in our lives for both of us was high school, although Carly's freshman year in particular, since she was learning her way around the school and new skills that she had never learned before. The relationship we have prized most in our lives was, of course, our relationship with each other, as well as with our other friends. Friendship and teamwork were both leading virtues that defined how we would like to look back at this time in our lives. After the activity was done, we went to the Milkshake Factory. Emily had an espresso shake, I had a milk chocolate-almond shake, Sarah had a strawberries and waffles milkshake, Carly had a regular strawberry milkshake, James had a Peppermint Brownie Fudge Milkshake, Mrs. Shay had a regular brownie fudge milkshake, Henri had a cookies and cream milkshake, and Mr. Benson had a mint cookies and cream milkshake. After we drank our milkshakes, it was time for me and Emily to catch our bus. "Thanks for a great day, everyone!" I thanked my friends. "You're welcome, Angel," Sarah replied. "Bye, guys!" "Bye!"