Wellbeing

 

Wellbeing, like a lot of things, has less to do with what is going on outside and more to do with what is going on inside.

Wellbeing is not about having the latest iPhone, tens of thousands of followers on LinkedIn, holidays in exotic places or a large choice of restaurants for your evening meal.

Wellbeing is about how you feel about yourself.

Clearly, what goes on “out there” will have an impact on us; none of us are robots and we will all be impacted by our personal environment and the suffering caused by floods, earthquakes, heatwaves and other natural disasters.

Many of us live in a world where the search for our personal satisfaction and wellbeing has been “externalised” – dozens of T-shirts, a selection of shoes, a choice of cinemas and restaurants ………

The notion of wellbeing has been around for some time now and was even included in the 1948 World Health Organisation (WHO) definition of health: “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

Various dictionary definitions of wellbeing read “the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous” (Merriam Webster), “the state of feeling healthy and happy” (Cambridge English) and “the condition of being contented, healthy, or successful” (Collins)

In 1997 the Quality of life was defined by WHO as:

“An individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way by the person’s physical health, psychological state, personal beliefs, social relationships and their relationship to salient features of their environment”

When I work with people on their wellbeing, I look at physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Physical wellbeing is about feeling good about your physical (and, possibly physiological) state; do you feel “fit” & healthy”, can you walk up a couple of flights of stairs without getting out of breath, do you get enough exercise, are you sleeping well.

Do you have enough physical energy to keep you alert and active?

Emotional wellbeing is about being in your “positive” emotions, oscillating between feeling invigorated, confident & joyful and relaxed, mellow & serene as opposed to oscillating between feeling angry, anxious & defensive and depressed, exhausted and hopeless.

Do you have enough emotional energy to help you build and maintain constructive, healthy relationships?

Mental wellbeing is about being able to focus and concentrate on the task in hand, do you get side-tracked easily, do you find yourself working on non-priority items, do you give up too easily.

Do you have enough mental energy to help you to focus on what matters most?

Spiritual wellbeing is about being aligned to your beliefs and values, do you act in accordance with your values, are you pushed to the limit of what is acceptable for you.

Do you have enough spiritual energy to maintain a prolonged state of alignment?

If you would like to develop you physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing, and their associated energies, do not hesitate to contact me at boblarcher@boblarcher.com