At the end of a busy week, do you ask yourself "Is this all there is to life?" or "Is life always going to be like this?" or "Were my choices the right ones?" or "Why do feel constantly tired or unfulfilled?"
Let's examine our lifestyle using a dual approach.
Firstly, we must understand exactly what wellness is referring to.
Does it mean a general state of well-being? Can we be well physically but not mentally? Does this have anything to with spiritual wellness?
We must recognise whether or not wellness is suited to our life currently. Maybe we already live in a way that promotes wellness in our everyday life and maybe we do not.
However, in either case we want to understand how well our life is suited to wellness.
For those of us who do not live in a way that promotes wellness, what do we have to do to inspire wellness in our current life?
Do we have to make any changes or is it simply a case of doing more? Maybe it is a case of doing less?
What is Wellness?
For some of us, wellness is how we feel at a particular time and there is nothing we can do about it.
For others, it may be a matter of seeking physical good health in order to prevent possible future disease.
Some others relate wellness only to the physical body and others relate it more to their mental state than anything else does.
The holistic view of what wellness can be understood as balance.
Therefore, Wellness = Balance.
When we feel well physically it is due to the fact of our bodies are getting what they need from a balanced lifestyle.
This includes our level of physical exercise, our nutrition intake, our level of work vs play, and our personal and environmental hygiene. When we feel balanced physically, we feel well.
Mentally we feel balanced when our thoughts are aligned with our purpose in life. When we have an understanding as to what we are doing, why we are doing it and what needs to be done to maintain order in our life.
When we are emotionally disturbed on the other-hand, we say that we feel out-of-balance, or perhaps mentally unwell.
Spiritually, we have a much bigger picture to look at. In order to determine whether we are spiritually well we need to be very honest with ourselves when asking that question.
If we feel completely happy with our lives, if we have a genuine understanding of our function and position in the universe, as living beings, then we could be said to be spiritually well.
But, and this is where the importance of self-honesty shines through, we must be clear with ourselves if we feel spiritually unwell.
Do we feel confused about our way of life, or our beliefs?
Do we have unresolved conflicts with our past or even perhaps our understanding of our life, or our purpose?
Do we feel inner calm and peace that supports and promotes our utmost quality of life?
Being spiritually unwell means that no matter what we do, or where we go, or who we are with, our happiness, our wellness is only temporary.
Eventually, we always fall back into some form of despair or confusion, or suffering: like having a splinter in our minds that inevitably, always returns back to hurt.
The Best Thing About Wellness
Wellness is attainable, by anyone and everyone.
Everyone can achieve physical, mental, and spiritual wellness. Bearing in mind, that wellness does not mean ‘to be in good health’. If that were the case then no terminally ill person could ever feel well.
Remember: wellness = balance.
Even a person who is suffering from a terminal illness can feel well, if their life is balanced and fulfilled.
In order to encourage the development of a holistic wellness in our life, all we have to do is maintain a balanced way of life.
This incorporates the physical, mental and spiritual worlds, since all of those things are within us.
Therefore, with regards to the question, is your lifestyle designed to support wellness, the above will give you an idea if it is, and only you will know the answer.
If the answer is no, there are many things you can do to make changes, so make a plan and stick with it.
Reflection Quiz
Give yourself a rating from 1 to 10 for your level of:
1. Physical activity throughout the week
2. Overall physical fitness
3. Nutrition choices
4. Nutrition calorie intakes
5. Balance of work and play/relaxation
6. Attending to personal needs-pride and commitment to hygiene and appearance
7. Environmental hygiene-commitment to good practices within the home and outside the home.
This quiz gives you an opportunity to honestly reflect on your practices and see if they align with your beliefs.
Can you see areas of your life where you need to make changes in order to develop your sense of wellness?
Can you brainstorm how you could make changes that bring your life back into balance without disrupting the other components of wellness?
I would also encourage you to sit with a trusted person and discuss this strategy with them as another point of view is always helpful when you are in a habit of doing things in a particular way.
Changes are hard! For example, when I was working at a demanding job, I felt like I was constantly working at home, as well.
My parents would remark on the long hours I spent working at home and said they would have discouraged my choice of profession, if they knew how much work needed to be done at home
.I had just accepted that this was my way of life but the comments my parents made gave me the impetus to change.
So I made a personal commitment that on certain days of the week, I would not work at home.
Find out more on this follow-up post
What are the symptoms of unwellness?
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