5 Aspects That Nullify Psychological And Spiritual Well-being

In Western society there is a search for psychological well-being and a spirituality that does not make us feel adrift, so that life is something we can shape, but without feeling the excessive weight of guilt and responsibility for our actions.

We often  seek spiritual guidance to make our lives more pleasant and for everything to flow harmoniously, instead of questioning and suffering so much.

This quest for spirituality is directly related to another concept that fills psychology offices: people want to feel good and be at peace with themselves. People are looking for psychological well-being.

The search for spirituality and psychological well-being

Through psychology we can give some advice regarding spirituality and psychological well-being, which have their roots not only inspired by ancestral and religious currents, but which have been validated by scientific psychology.

This psychological and spiritual well-being is not something arbitrary or casual that comes out of nowhere; it requires effort, commitment and dedication on our part.

Therefore, the search for psychological and individual well-being requires from people a commitment to deepen this process that can lead to its realization.

In this article, we will discuss five aspects that negate psychological and spiritual well-being that have been much studied.

• The envy
• Comparison with others
• The continuous evaluation of our life and ourselves
• the idealization
• the catastrophic thinking

The envy

We often differentiate “healthy envy” from “evil envy”, although in its definition there is no such distinction.

Feeling momentary envy at a specific event is normal, as long as we don’t want to take the other person’s place or wish them harm. But if this feeling lingers in time and intensity, it can cause damage.

Envy puts us in a situation of uselessness, toxicity and, at times, aggressiveness.

Comparison with others

Comparison with others is an aspect that we are taught since childhood to achieve success through competition and to seek “normality” according to the criteria imposed by society.

What we are not taught is that each of us is unique: we have unique abilities, personalities and circumstances.

Comparisons take us away from our own reality, create false myths and sometimes a profound sense of failure.

Of course, this opens the door to envy, even though our nature has never wanted to feed that feeling.

If you believe that you should have a role model or a reference for your life, you can create it according to your values, in a way that suits your circumstances and is really accessible.

The continuous evaluation of ourselves

Continuously evaluating what we do and what others do leads to bitterness and neuroticism. Judging others is a common habit of frustrated people.

We must try to live without analyzing everything, because life is not an equation to be solved, but a continuous sensation of new learning and feelings.

Idealization

The idealization of people and situations is very common; it is usually done retrospectively and projecting the future.

The difference between setting goals and idealizing is very clear: in the first we work to achieve what we want, in the second we establish a stubborn connection with past mistakes and lack of realism about our future goals.

catastrophic thoughts

Catastrophic thinking is the opposite of idealistic thinking. Contrary to what we might believe, both can be present in a person’s psyche at the same time.

When something we idealize and experience  doesn’t live up to our expectations, we lose control and get desperate.

That’s why we need to adjust our expectations to reality. Knowing reality, we do not create false hopes that do not fit into our daily lives.

enhanced psychological well-being

Avoiding these five factors will lead to mental and spiritual well-being  that can be reinforced by practicing meditation, mindfulness or other techniques that help us become aware of our own bodies and relax our minds.

With these practices we eliminate everything that disturbs us, that is not good and useful and that should be left in the past.

By detecting these aspects in our minds, we can try to minimize, ignore the thoughts that hurt us and open the way to the future we desire.

When we dramatize, we make problems worse. Focus your attention on the present and organize your life to achieve well-being and mental clarity.