Wellness – The New Definition of Health

Posted June 2, 2008 by Jean Steel, MS
You run regularly, take yoga class, lift weights. You are the green leafy vegetable queen (or king). You feel great and look young. Your friends continually remark that you’re in fantastic shape. Even your doctor reports that you’re as healthy as they come. But … are you well?
 
Just as 50 is the new 40, and 40 is the new 30, today’s definition of health has changed too. By yesterday’s standards, the definition of good health meant eating right, staying fit and avoiding disease. Today’s true wellness means much more than the mere absence of illness. It’s an expanded definition that also includes the way we connect with others and with our surroundings. It’s about whether or not our daily lives feel meaningful, purposeful. The road to real wellness is paved with zest, that happy energy that infuses our days with enthusiasm and gratitude.  
 
Wellness is about the whole person. Sure it’s important to eat well, and to keep our bodies fit and flexible. Physical health is fundamental. But if we want to experience the full flavor of our lives, we will need to address the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental elements of our lives. Managing the ways in which these elements affect one another―and our day-to-day lives― is done by cultivating balance.
 
I know what you’re thinking. Who has time for balance? Taking the time to examine all these various elements, fill in the holes, get rid of dead weight, and practice what’s missing is a daunting thought. Our busy lives demand so much! Our jobs, our families, our homes, our bodies! Between the jogging track, the office, the yard work and the family dinner table, where on earth does one fit in the study of Ancient Greece, or a French class; time to chair a neighborhood task force, or take up fencing?
 
Whenever we are faced with a task that looks too big to tackle, just remember that old saying about the best way to eat an elephant – one bite at a time.
Wellness is a philosophy of life. It’s the discovery of who we are, what we love, and how we want to live. And isn’t that worth any amount of time?
 
Start small, and don’t let the “start” stop you. If you need to read more, turn off the television and join a book club. If you miss singing, join the church choir or learn a new piece of music and sing it in the shower. Don’t have space for a garden? Find a community garden to work in. Volunteer at a school if it’s little kids you miss. Or the local retirement home if it’s old people you have an affinity for. Whether it’s Neitzsche or needlepoint, kickboxing or Kierkegard, making beer or keeping bees – find out what feeds your soul and give it a place in your life.
 
The new definition of health is called wellness and the path you choose to take will be as unique as you are.