Your Wellness, Your Choice

Like most words, ask a group of twenty people to define the word “Wellness” and you will get twenty definitions, each with its own individual bias.

Think about your own definition. What popped into your mind when you read the word “Wellness”? A cover model? Absence of illness? Physical fitness? Being able to adequately cope with the daily stresses of your life?

Now, I would never insinuate that your definition of wellness is probably wrong, but I would hazard a guess that for most of you, your definition of wellness is, at best, incomplete.

In its truest sense, “Wellness” goes beyond the mere absence of illness or achieving physical fitness but strives to include a balance of all the dimensions in our lives. This includes spiritual, emotional, physical, mental, social, occupational, family, or financial priorities. We tend to focus on one or two of these things, leaving the other components of our lives under nourished and off balance. We feel incomplete, unhappy, and stressed out.

In addition to our definitions of wellness being incomplete, for most of us our definitions are not even our own! They are given to us by magazines and media, friends and family, and experts. You can disregard everything I’m telling you, and as long as you come up with your own definition of what you believe is needed in your life to achieve wellness, then I would consider that a success.

To truly get to your own definition it will require more than the first thing to pop into your head. I would recommend finding a quiet place, a pen and paper, and taking five minutes to write down the things that come to mind. Let the word wellness roll around in your head and write down any thoughts or images that come to mind. Don’t be picky, just write, even the things that surprise you.

It may seem like a lot of work for just a definition, but this type of exercise is more than just forming a definition, it is a way of developing your own wellness vision. It is vision that drives action so this step is vital to creating appropriate goals. This is so critical to helping you focus on the dimensions that are most important to you.

The choices you make everyday determine your current state of wellness and the bottom line is that your wellness is your choice.

So go ahead, grab a pen and some paper, and ponder. As your vision becomes clearer the choices you need to make to achieve that vision become easier.

Have fun and be well (whatever that means for you)!