"...a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
- The World Health Organization
How are you this morning? Do you have any unresolved issues in your head? Is there a dull ache in your back, or a twinge in your stomach? Can you feel the food from dinner last night still churning in your stomach? Is the altercation at home from last night niggling your existence? Or your colleague’s words still reverberating from the altercation last evening?
Or, are you feeling at peace? Tranquil, with a spring in your step despite all odds.
The answer resides in the choices that you made.
And in that lies the level of your Wellbeing.
Wellness rides on many factors:
• It is multidimensional
• It is holistic
• It encompasses lifestyle, mental, emotional, financial, physical, environmental, occupational and spiritual well-being.
Wellness is not something we are granted on a platter.
Yes sure, we are born perfect sentient beings in harmony with the Universe when we emerge from the womb, but that is at the beginning of one's life.
As life unfolds it brings with its own challenges and vicissitudes constantly, persistently disrupting the status quo.
We can choose to be passive beings taking the path of least resistance and not getting out of our comfort zone, or we can chart the quality of existence that we want for our selves.
Consciously questioning and making affirmative choices for positive evolution and personal development.
Wellness is a conscious, self-directed, evolving process of achieving one's full potential.
It is positive, affirming and supremely empowering.
It is in the active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.
In this pervasive minefield that we exist in today, we are constantly navigating choices. Choices that determine the quality of our existence. Either with our eyes wide open or playing blind man's bluff.
Majority of us go through life mindlessly, incognizant of the choices before us, or too lazy to make conscious choices-Rudderless and imbalanced just going with the flow.
In the times that we exist with the level of over-connectedness with devices, we are constantly overcharged, over-stimulated and distracted.
Today more than ever before there is a need to assess and balance one's level of wellness.
Where you place yourself on the continuum of each facet of wellness determines your “Peace of mind”.
“Peace of Mind”, that rare ephemeral commodity that is more valuable than the most expensive exotic traded on the stock exchange.
What differentiates us from animals? The only reason we are superior is the existence of higher faculties and the ability to think and make complex choices.
Specialists in each sphere of wellness have existed for decades:
EMOTIONAL- Psychologists, psychiatrists, life coaches
PHYSICAL- Spas, Ayurveda, and yoga retreats, fitness, cosmetologists, hospitals
SOCIO-CULTURAL/ SPIRITUAL- Gurus, healers, energy workers etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL- Conscious living choices, organic living (lifestyle)
OCCUPATIONAL- Wellness consultants for both personal and professional development
Despite their existence, the taboo attached to seeking help has been the biggest enemy of personal growth and wellness.
The biggest taboo being mental/emotional health. Today with peoples sensitization to the importance of mental health people are more open to sharing their issues.
It’s all about an attitude. The shift has begun. People are open to change, they want to feel better.
What choice did you make this morning?