My personal prescription for my well-being

My company has monthly account manager lunch and learn meetings. We each have turns presenting. The sessions are a mixture of things we have discovered or helpful hints to do with our industry, success techniques for building strong customer relationships as well as a health and wellness component. This month it was my turn to discuss wellness. I’ve done the other pieces in the past and it was ok, it was informative, but it did not thing for me emotionally. Health and wellness is actually something that is very important to me and something that I put in the work to achieve daily. When I found out it was my turn, my level of enthusiasm far surpassed previous endeavors. My thoughts easily flowed onto paper for talking points. I prepared a musical video montage for the grand finale and I really loved every moment I spent putting my presentation together as well as sharing it with my co-workers.

I am not an expert, nor am I here to say I have the answers for anyone but myself. Perhaps you will read this and something will resonate with you, perhaps you will read this and roll your eyes, maybe you’ll just scroll on by without reading it at all. My emotional well-being includes writing down the thoughts that swirl around my head and letting them out into the universe no expectations, just release.. so here goes…

Well-being has become quite the buzzword linked to many different areas of life. Of course, as I often times do when I’m blogging on a topic, I look up the definition of the key word I am focused on discussing.

The dictionary defines well-being as the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy..

Happy or healthy… Happy OR healthy…Or not AND… HMMM.

So first let’s consider Happiness or Joy?  Similar yet different…

Happiness – I think endorphins. The “feeling” comes from external factors such as material things, people, places and experiences. Getting the last parking spot, a cute outfit, an intense workout, a compliment might make me happy.  Happiness can be fleeting.

Joy – to me is a warm internal feeling that comes from being at peace with my circumstances. It completely envelops and washes over me. My heart is open and ready to receive love. I am able to see the good in my surroundings and actively seek out the love that is all around me.  Happiness tends to be linked to external factors so when something goes wrong, your happiness is replaced with sadness, disappointment, anger.  Having joy feels more secure and stable.  Having joy for me coexists with the knowledge that there is always hope.

So Well-Being – like I said buzz word..

Emotional Well-Being. Physical Well-Being. Societal/Social Well-Being. Workplace Well-Being. Financial Well-Being. Spiritual Well-Being. 

It’s a little bit exhausting if I’m being honest. And do you need to have well-being in all the categories to feel happy and content and live a joy filled life? I guess that depends on the person. For me spiritual and emotional well-being are most important, followed by physical. If my foundation is strong, achieving the rest seems more attainable and the results held more securely in place. Obviously financial well-being is a concern but having climbed out of financial hardship twice in our married lives; first time living in Pennsylvania, almost drowning in financial woes, moving back to NJ and thriving for decades. Then unexpectedly finding our livelihoods decimated due to the pandemic, his job lost, my hours drastically cut, definitely taught me finances, while important, are not tantamount to me living a joy filled existence. Some of the best things in life truly are free. But I digress.

My prescription for achieving over-all well-being and leading a joy filled life.

• Truly understanding the difference between joy and happiness and deciding what you are after.  If you are after both, (which is perfectly fine) figure out what actions lead you to each state of being.

Things that make me happy:

A productive workday, an intense kickboxing class, a great meal, a Jets win, financial security, conquering a new activity.

Things that bring me joy:

Family, especially my amazing grandson and his soon to be little brother, friends, volunteer opportunities, prayer, listening to music, singing, painting, hiking, a sunrise, a sunset, crashing waves, making deep rooted connections and bonds.

Every day we wake up in a different frame of mind, lack of sleep, bad dreams, the prior days stress can affect how we feel.

Every morning I take a moment to start my day with intention.

Having different a routines for this purpose is extremely helpful. Some days the basic routine is not enough to wipe away the funk. I always have a Plan B. These same routines also work for combatting stress that presents itself during my daily existence. I have a quick fuse at times and can get angry quickly and sometimes explode, but these practices balance me out in a timely fashion and allow me to move away from the situation and not get bogged down.

I gauge my attitude and then decide which routine I will follow. They only vary slightly really.

• • Good day – grab my coffee and my bible app and spend some time in the daily reflection and any plan I may be doing.

• • Gratitude journal, write down at least 3 things I am grateful for every single day.

Challenging day – grab my coffee and my bible app and spend some time in the daily reflection and any plan I may be doing.

• • Gratitude journal, write down at least 3 things I am grateful for every single day.

• • Brain dump in another journal, write out any troublesome thoughts down on paper to loosen their hold on me.

• • Eat red meat, yes very important for me. When I am having a bad day and my emotions and body chemistry is out of sync, protein, especially red meat, does wonders for my frame of mind. I can actually feel the transformation taking place in my body.

I have a musical play list for all occasions.. music speaks to my soul.

99% of the time my first song in my go to list no matter how I am feeling is “He would be 16” by Michelle Wright… from there depending on the situation, I head towards… Lee An Womack – I hope you dance, Even If by Mercy Me, Tim McGraw, Humble and Kind, Casting Crowns, Praise you in the Storm, Josh Groban, You Raise me up, Skillet, Monster, Imagine Dragons, Whatever it takes,  by the time I get to Abba and Dancing Queen is blaring, I’m in a good place.

Exercise plays a huge role in my quest for emotional and physical well being. For me it is important that I love the activities I choose so that I do not have to force myself to do them.

• • Workout – usually 5 days a week

Self-care is a vital part of well-being.  These practices I have put in place are part of my self-care routine which sets the base for me to lead a complete, fulfilling, joy-filled life that includes a lot of quality time for fun with family and friends.

Oh and because life is unpredictable and often times ironic, I have had to use my stress reducing techniques multiple times in the past 36 hours! Be Kind. Be prepared. Be well. Namaste.