What truly makes every person unique and special is that no one will ever have the same perspective as another. You may hold certain views and value similar things, but to have the same perspective is nearly, if not, completely, impossible. The reason being is that your perspectives are created by personal life experiences and you view certain situations from that vantage point. Take for instance, a child running in a meadow, four people watching that child would have four different perspectives although they were all witnessing the same event. Some may view the child as being carefree, another might see the child as wasting time, and another may have no judgment at all.
Take another example of looking at a glass of water on a table; conjures many different perspectives. One person could see it as half empty, another half full, another seeing the reflective qualities of the water in the glass, and another just simply a glass on the table holding water. The same goes for health and wellness. Sometimes people see wellness as physically feeling fit, with all clinical lab values within the normal range. Others may view wellness as mental and emotional stability, while still others may view it as having energy and being able to function on a day-to-day basis. So what is actually normal?
The way one perceives being well is an individual experience dictated by what is currently most important in one’s life. Let’s take for instance when someone feels financially challenged. Finances become the most important driver for a person to address and take care of. For another, if one is ailing and suffering from health maladies, taking care of one’s health becomes their primary focus. However, once a person perceives they are feeling better and their physical suffering has alleviated or resolved, their focus on taking care of their health begins to drop in value. Hence the value of taking care of their wellbeing begins to drop unless the person has experienced a loved one who suffered tremendously due to not taking care of themselves. Then that becomes the motivating factor for them to continue maintaining and sustaining their health, vitality, and wellness.
Solving the wellness quotient is extremely difficult in this day and age, however is becoming of paramount importance in the workplace. Lifestyle and wellness programs are being offered in the workplace to help people deal with stress better and take care of themselves. It’s great to see businesses valuing their employees and workers by creating programs to encourage people to take care of themselves. However, like the old saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink” will forever ring true. Until people can see the value of taking care of themselves or find the benefit in doing so, a company may have the best wellness programs being offered, but how many actually use it? Better yet, how many can schedule it into their busy lives?
What I have observed is that time is definitely a factor, but until you learn to “tune in” and listen to your body’s signals, the “busy-ness” of your life will take precedence, leading you to unhealthy practices. So take this time right now if you are thinking about all the things you need to do tomorrow, place hands on your chest or stomach and take three deep breaths focusing it on where your hands are laying. What happened? I bet after focusing on your breathing in and out three times, you felt calmer and a bit more settled. Reason being is that this simple exercise helped you to “reset” and brought you back to the present moment. When you take the time to “pause” and bring your focus right here, right now, it is the first essential step to cultivate paying attention to your body and increasing your mind-body awareness. Look for to my next life letter where I will introduce another mind-body connection exercise!
