Teachers like themes. So naturally I researched to see if wellness is considered a process (see this week’s blog post on the writing process). Sure enough, according to the National Wellness Institute , wellness is “a conscious, self-directed, and evolving process of achieving one’s full potential.” Further, wellness is something that is “measurable and requires individuals actively participate”. 

This process is what differentiates wellness from health. At any given moment we may be healthy or we may not. But wellness can be a part of our life even as we battle a cold, mismanage stress, or seek to recover from something catastrophic. 

It’s important to recognize process. In my early forties, I felt compelled to improve my wellbeing. My fitness was fine (I like to jog), but I was starting to understand that wellness was bigger than that. Eating, for example, was just a routine (even intrusion), dinner and dishes a chore that had to be completed at the end of the day before I ran out of steam. Life with kids and all their activities was stressful. As I started on this new path, I signed on to become the “Wellness Champion” at my place of work. I wasn’t perfect and some of my co-workers were further along in their wellness journey. I was a soda drinker who had gone from one diet soda a day to one a week. A coworker commented that the wellness person shouldn’t drink soda. But she didn’t know where I was in the wellness process. She didn’t know I had already given up six a week.

Let process be freeing as you consider your wellness. You can start anywhere to make positive changes in your life, like by journaling ;). 

So where to begin? Or, if you are already invested, what is next?

On the National Wellness Institute’s site, I found different dimensions or principles that figure into wellness. I think of them as areas or zones of wellness. They are: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental, occupational. The name of each can be self-explanatory, but learning about each may reveal little wrinkles of areas for one to think about.

My husband and I have recently been questioning our social health. We have a lot of support from family, which is a huge piece of social wellbeing. We also have life-long friends who have our backs in hard times and who we occasionally spend time with, but we have some lazy habits when it comes to socializing that are starting to catch up to us.

Lazy being the key word. Maybe it’s because we live in a cold-weather state, maybe it’s because our jobs are (were) over-stimulating. Teachers, in our minds, can’t go out on school nights! Dinner on Friday? Gosh, no, we’d yawn through the whole thing. That leaves Saturday, and during that time we might miss a Dateline. The end result—we avoid socializing, both consciously and unconsciously. 

We end up in what could be called a comfortable routine. Or it could be called a rut. Ruts are not good for keeping our brains sharp and well. Ruts are not good for growing our experiences and staying stimulated. Ruts are not good for human connection (which makes me think of Brene Brown—but that’s another post). 

That’s my confession. How about you? Where are you in your process? What’s a small next step? Scroll up to check out this week’s writing prompt.