Is a brain diet a thing?

Back when Simon was diagnosed as having Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), one of the initial therapists talked about him needing a "sensory diet." In other words, he needed a certain kind and volume of stimulation to help his brain practice taking input. That sounded strange, but I suppose it ultimately made sense to me. While we've given him outlets and opportunities, we've never really had a diet exactly, so maybe that's on us when he seems erratic in his physical behavior.

I started to wonder if this concept could be applied to a broader context in life. If I've learned anything in the last five years, it's that being happy requires deliberate action. When I was a teenager, I figured all I would need is my own place and the chance to have sex every day, which may partially explain why I was often a miserable teenager. Now that I'm older and wiser (well, older at least), I understand that it's not an accident.

There are three general categories that I believe contribute to your happiness, roughly grouped as relationships, environment and professional life. And yet, there are things in each of those categories that you seem to require in order for life to be at its best. In relationships, you need that range of superficial to intense interaction. In the environment, you need everything from comfort to unfamiliar. In work, you need things to vary between challenging and easy. Without this diet of activity, it's like some things are less enjoyable or don't go as well as you would like.

For example, I've noticed that I'm more into creating software (whether it's coding or leading a group) when I take time to mindlessly lose myself in video games. I'm a better parent when I learn about the challenge of others. I'm generally more relaxed and able to adapt when I regularly take vacations. I'm more likely to do home projects when I play with construction toys. I'm better about maintaining friendships when I spend time with any friend.

So it's like a more generalized brain diet. Practicing at life makes you better at life, and by extension happier. Sitting around in dull routine does not.