don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

In yesterday's essay, I described the economic crisis marked by burst bubbles, bailouts and bankruptcies and asked if a wellness mindset, philosophy and/or lifestyle is as valuable as in more normal times. The entire essay sketched the extent of the problems but did not answer the above question. That time has come.

I believe a REAL wellness mindset is always important. In hard times, little else will make a quality difference, for the better. REAL wellness will liberate those who embrace it and enable advances toward the most important kind of prosperity, namely, physical and psychological well-being. Given the stresses of today's fiscal turmoil, perils await those who seek only comfort and relief. The best ally in the quest for economic recovery is a positive lifestyle that promotes personal health and builds upon positive social connections. Economic perils are best faced with positive attitudes, high resolve of mental discipline and peak physical strengths, not while mired in a struggle against negativity.

Wellness itself does not solve any financial problems. However, it helps in reaching and maintaining first-rate levels of physical and mental functioning. That state can, in turn, facilitate the pursuit of activities that best advance opportunities and manage crises.

Consider some factors that make REAL wellness a winning philosophy in hard as well as good times. As you know, REAL wellness entails:

• A disciplined focus on the bright side.
  
  
• A commitment to personal excellence.
  
  
• A regard for social support and the value of communities.
  
  
• A willingness to secure and work to maintain high standards of physical fitness.
  
  
• A continuing conscious pursuit of added meaning and purpose.
  
  
• A desire to comprehend the phenomenon of happiness and realize some measure or degree of it, as circumstances permit.
  
  
• A continuing respect for personal honor associated with the art of applied ethics.
  
  
• A recognition that it is best to want what you have, meaning the wisdom to live in the present (versus bemoaning what you had before or could have had with a few different decisions). (An excellent book on this approach to prospering in the best sense of the word is "Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want" by Barbara Sher.) 
  
  
• A predisposition to take time to appreciate the beauty around you, in natural as well as human forms.
  
   
• A sense of gratitude for the fact that, while conditions are difficult, there is so much left to celebrate and resolve to appreciate. 
  
  
• An outlook marked by compassion for others in general, as well as a mindset of forgiveness for those who may have contributed to difficult circumstances. (Yes, include in the latter even George W. Bush. But, not the Devil. Humans need someone or something as a scapegoat, even if they have to invent such characters to make their saviors seem deliriously wonderful by comparison.) 

Some still might fret at the contradictions in the affirmative nature of REAL wellness, such as sketched above, and hard times, massive human suffering, scarce resources and widespread worry and fear. Is REAL wellness of a positive nature not a guilty indulgence while Rome (and the rest of the world) burns? Or not?

The proper answer, I say, is "Absolutely not!" Major not! In fact, au contraire, no way Jose and just the opposite. Now more than ever, we need a REAL wellness philosophy to deal with challenges greater than normal. Much greater than normal, in fact.

A healthy lifestyle that includes physical, mental/emotional and social components will protect and build your immunity while maintaining and boosting your morale. The REAL wellness qualities sketched above (a partial list, I might add) are invaluable for weathering the proverbial storm(s) AND for building a capacity to flourish.

Wellness qualities are always advantageous, but when times are tough, such qualities lend toughness, as well. The weak in body, mind and morale will be first to succumb to unrelenting demands, stresses, setbacks and other misfortunes that accompany prolonged crises. Furthermore, family, friends and perfect strangers need you at your best, providing leadership, guidance, inspiration and hope. Judd Allen, like his father Robert F. Allen before him, reminds us that people coming together for entertainment, political solutions and mutual support are always helpful ways to boost well-being, no doubt more so when budgets are light and conditions difficult.

There are no guarantees, even with a bright-side outlook, but more than ever, it will pay to adopt and practice REAL wellness. To be physically fit, mentally strong and resolute, adaptable, flexible, resilient and capable is a formula for success in bad times—and good.

If these comments seem plausible and convincing, if you agree that REAL wellness makes sense in normal times and more so in crises, then you will want to support public policies and private initiatives that make such learning and living opportunities widely available. For instance, you will want to support continuing worksite wellness programs, knowing that the common reaction to less business might be to pull back programming to save money. This is an ideal time to not only deal creatively with the current crisis but to prepare as well for the future. Let's explore innovative new approaches to healthy, productive work forces and work settings. Similar thinking should influence the shape of health system reforms.

Likewise, apply REAL wellness values introduced with varied public programs aimed at creating jobs, rebuilding the economy and making individual life and society itself better than before the economy fell apart. Perhaps solutions to the fiscal downturn will only
be possible when we more effectively work together for solutions that meet the needs of all classes, not just the most advantaged.

What are your thoughts on these matters, particularly the bottom-line assertion that REAL wellness might be the ultimate bailout at this time of economic meltdown? As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Be well. Always look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MEANING DOMAIN under the skill area of applied wellness. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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