Wellness – It's A Choice
Deepak Chopra says we either choose a path toward well-being or a path away from it. Even if you don't know exactly how you define well-being, you know if you're experiencing it or not by the way you feel. Well-being implies health, happiness and contentment by virtue of its name. Well-being implies a feeling of peace and an absence of illness, stress and unresolved conflict.
Well-being is the manifestation of being well mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychically. A state of wellness that is complete. But how well do you really feel?
Are you well in some areas of your life but not others? Do you love your job but you're in a relationship that doesn?t encourage you to be a better version of you, one that is more like a roommate situation than a relationship, or is actually demolishing your self-esteem and happiness? Perhaps your relationship is strong but you are battling against fears that are sapping your mental, emotional and psychic resources. Unfulfilled dreams, goals and accomplishments will drain your energy. The path away from well-being leads to illness, prolonged states of anxiety and soul death.
You can tell when someone is experiencing well-being or not, just by the way they look. Inner well-being reveals itself in outer beauty and radiance. Those on the path away from well-being and those experiencing the slow death of their soul look haggard- perpetually tired, unhealthy and drawn down. There isn?t enough sleep or caffeine in the world to help them.
Observe people as you go through your day today. You will be able to predict fairly accurately who is on the path to well-being and who is on the path away from it. Look at the eyes – are they bright and cheery or drawn down and tired looking? Is there a smile or lack of it? Is the luster of the skin- dull or plump and glowing, posture- slumpy or upright? Is there a spring in her step, or more like she is dragging herself along? Does she look fit, or like she has been consoling herself with food or substances like cigarettes or alcohol? Does she look relaxed, or like stress is present in every muscle and organ in her body? Now look at yourself in the mirror. How do you look?
Some of you may be at the fork in the road where the path to well-being and the path away from it intersect. You are on the brink of making the choice of wellness or not. You spend one day taking good care of yourself and the next day you eat a bag of potato chips after work instead of taking the dogs for a walk, and spread your frustration to your mate rather than enjoying the moment with him or her and letting the rest go. The good news is that we get to choose. Frustrating events happen but you always choose your reaction to it. And making choices that promote your well-being are always rewarded because they create a positive energy that is contagious just as emotions are contagious. Are you spreading positive energy and emotions to those around you, or negative? Are you encouraging not only yourself but also others to invest in their own well-being, or away from it?
Emotion and energy contagion are real. Psychologists have documented emotion contagion in scientific studies, but what about energy? Have you ever come home from work in a bad mood or stressed out from the day?s events? What happens when you enter the house? I was doing this every day for weeks leading up to my leaving a toxic work environment. And every day the energy in my house would become grumpy and dumpy once I got home. My husband and kids were meeting me where I was energetically and emotionally and it was not good. I made a choice to change my behavior to distressing on my 30 minute commute home by either talking it out with friends/coworkers in the same situation, or listening to soothing music or motivational audiobooks on the way home. That 30 minute commute was invaluable to stop the emotion and energy contagion from my work day.
You have the choice. Thoughts come freely but you control whether you hold onto them or let them go and you can actively work to change your thought patterns. This in turn will help you control your emotions and energy. Negative thought patterns never serve you well. Negative thought patterns take up precious space in your brain that could be occupied by a game plan to solve any problem or create the life you really want. For every problem there is a solution as long as you aren?t wallowing in the problem. For every goal there is an action plan that will bring it to fruition.
Be conscious of your thoughts and energy. Release what isn?t serving your well-being. You really can choose to do this and it will take work, but you are worth it. Choose to be with positive people rather than negative- remember energy and emotion contagion are real. You won?t be able to lift up someone with your own positivity if she is content and receiving reward from staying in the negative. Only behavior that is rewarded continues- psychology 101. You will find many more people, however, that are positive people having a negative moment and your smile, your momentary kindness and your radiance will lift them up and remind them of their own well-being.
Take at least one step on the path to total well-being, emotionally releasing what isn?t and hasn?t been working for you, mentally challenging yourself to come up with an action plan to get to where you really want to be, psychically tuning in to energy level and feelings of goodness and health. Marthat'sBeck, coach, sociologist and Oprah elite, said it simply, ?do more of what feels good and less of what doesn?t?. This is a good place to start.
Well-being isn?t complicated. I making healthy choices and a conscious decision to feel good and be well. We get busy with our lives and forget that we never know how much time we have here. We can use this time to share our gifts with the world and be present in the moment in a way that is healthy, positive and uplifting to our families and friends. Every single day matters and we cannot share our gifts to the fullest extent if we are not in a state of total well-being.
You matter. You are here for a reason. You are unique and valuable. You are worthy of health. You are worthy of happiness. You are joy.
Be well.