If we are spiritual, emotional, physical, intelectual and social beings.............

It's often said that there are five dimensions to a human being. These dimensions are social, spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical. If I were to give my self a grade for how I am supporting each of these dimensions, I would probably average a D+. This causes me to wonder how much of my depression is due to the fact that I am not adequately nourishing or supporting each dimension of myself. Upon further analysis of why I have failed to properly nourish (for lack of better words) each of my dimensions, it's likely due to the fact that my life is so unbalanced because of how many hours that I work that each dimension of myself has been ignored for a decade or so. If a human being is in fact 5 dimensions (some say 4 or 5, but same concept or more less) and these aspects are ignored or assaulted, it only makes sense that this eventually leads to depression and anxiety.

I don't mean to generalize that this is the cause of all mood disorders at all, but I wonder how many of us have slipped into depression or anxiety because our life's are simply out of balance for too long. We don't spend enough time with friends and family, we don't have for family dinners, we don't have time to go for a walk with our spouse, we don't have time to cook and eat beautiful nutritious meals, we don't have time to volunteer to help others, we don't have time to be active in a spiritual community, we don't have time to enjoy hobbies and interests, we don't have time to read good books, we don't have time for adequate down-time, we don't have time for adequate sleep etc.

If my depression has a silver lining, it's that the intensity of my unhappiness has caused me to think very hard about why I was unhappy and what really is important in life. In thinking about these things, I have come to the conclusion that I must make sacrifices to achieve a wealth of TIME versus monetary wealth. Besides money needed for the very basics, ample TIME is all you need to thoroughly provide nourishment for each of our dimensions. As mentioned previously, we need TIME to see friends and family, TIME to exercise etc..... My family is now on the path towards simplifying our lives, practicing minimalism and frugality to learn to live with less so that we can have more (time).

Just my monthly musing but I hope that it's beneficial to at least one person out there suffering today.