On My Mind

I have been thinking about the Wellness Wheel lately. Let me take a brief moment to describe what it is. If you do an online search for "wellness wheel" you find many different versions. Here is one whose categories I like:

Depending on which wheel you use, there are 6 to 8 sections of the wheel. I usually like the ones that have financial in there too. The different sections are Occupational, Intellectual, Social, Physical, Spiritual, and Emotional.

Occupational deals with the health of your career. Are you where you want to be or are you progressing to the point you want to be at? Do you like your job or is it torture to go every day? These are some of the things to consider.

Intellectual deals with our need to use our minds. Are we being stimulated? Are we learning? Are we discovering new things? Are we using our mental capacity in other areas of our lives?

Social is another aspect of life that is important. We have all heard of, "No man is an island." We cannot have healthy lives without human relationships. Are we connecting to people? Do we have social supports in our lives? Are we taking time to connect with those we love? Are we taking time to meet new people?

Physical has to do with our health. Where are we at physically? Are we healthy and fit? Are we giving our bodies the nutrition it needs? Are we getting enough sleep?

Spiritual is very important. Some describe this section as values and ethics. Others use the idea of finding meaning in one's life. Being religious, I see this as our connection to God. How is our relationship to God? Are we talking to him daily? Are we doing what He requires of us? Are nourishing our spirits with His word?

Emotional is self explanatory. How are our emotions? Are we depressed, content, happy? Are our emotions regulated or are they all over the place? Are we expressing our emotions or are we bottling them up?

This is a useful way to look at one's life. In order to be truly "healthy" one must be healthy in all areas of one's life. Think of this as an actual wheel. It needs to be nice and round with all areas inflated. When one area is not healthy, it affects all areas of the wheel. It limits our ability to go anywhere. You can look online for ways to score yourself to see how your particular wheel looks.

I have been thinking a lot about the wheel lately because mine is not doing too well. Particularly, the emotional section has been weak. I have been more depressed than usual. I also have been very weak in my resolve to accomplish the tasks that are required of me.

This has affected the physical section of the wheel. Depression goes along with physical symptoms. I have been very fatigued, I have had multiple headaches, my stomach has been bothering me, etc.

These two weak areas have affected the occupational section. I am behind in school. I have missed work and am, therefore, behind in my hours. This in turn further weakens the physical section because now I have to miss sleep in order to catch up.

The spiritual aspect is affected because of the fatigue and depression. I miss church or my heart is not into it. I feel guilty because I am not living up to my own standards.

Intellectually I find myself not wanting to use my mind. I don't have the energy to learn more or to push myself. All I want to do is mind numbing things.

Finally, all of this affects the social aspects. I find myself ignoring phone calls from friends because I do not feel like talking. I also find myself relying on my friends and family more than they know. I expect them to cheer me up without knowing that that is what I need. I expect them to show me if I am important to them and get hurt when they don't. All of this without them knowing. I expect them to read my mind. This I do because I am seeking something from them that I am not getting in the other areas of life.

I hope that I have demonstrated the interrelatedness of the sections of the wheel. All areas need to be healthy in order for one to be holistically healthy. We need to focus on ALL of the areas. When one is weak, it affects the others. When we are not well rounded in health, we don't get very far. We are stressed and struggling. No matter what situation you are in, focus on each of these areas and find some way to strengthen them. If this were a discussion board, I would ask for your ideas on ways to strengthen each section. But ask yourselves that. Really do a self assessment on each of these areas and try to get your wheel healthy and round.

The image of the wellness wheel came from:
http://www.thefitnessguru.net/thefitnessguru/Home.htm