defining wellness

what is wellness?

such a difficult thing to define … is it the way we think? - yes, partially.

is it affected by the way we look? - can be.

do beautiful people possess wellness? - not necessarily.

can a poor person possess wellness? - yes.

what about a rich person, someone with loads of cabbage ... are they automatically in the club? – no!

so it is nothing to do with money? – well now … this is a difficult one … let’s say that there is a threshold above which money has nothing to do with wellness. but let me also add that this threshold is pretty low and it varies from country to country and we (i count myself here too) in the more fortunate, wealthier part of the world place this threshold much too high … much too high.

can a person who is really old and in poor health possess wellness? - yes.

can a youthful person in good shape feel that they do not possess it? - yes.

so it has nothing to do with age! - that’s correct.

what about being sick … can i possess wellness if i am sick? - yes.

so we tell the doctor we are not well but can still possess wellness? - yes … as crazy as that sounds, the answer is yes.

nothing to do with beauty, little to do with whether we are rich or poor, nothing to do with age, nothing to do with the health of our bodies … sure is an elusive thing to define … this wellness.

to complicate matters, the english language does’nt make it easier for us. some words are used interchangeably and we have to be clear that being well or unwell (as we would tell our doctor) is not the same as possessing wellness. and i don’t for the life of me know what the opposite of wellness is … it’s not ‘unwellness’ that’s for sure.

do we have to define it right now? - not really. why not just read the notes, go to the links, look at the things other people have said and perhaps the meaning will reveal itself for you.

each of us define our own wellness. what wellness is for me, is not wellness for you. each of us have different ways of being well, so don’t think i am providing a blueprint for it in this blog. no!

i’m providing ideas for you to think about; ideas which you will either ignore or incorporate into your life. ideas that might provide answers or provoke actions. but please remember that these not just wishful ideas – they’ve been proved. they’re tried and tested. they’ve worked for me and they might work for you.

i really believe wellness is within our grasp.