I believe that the nicest and sweetest of days are not those which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”
Anne of Green Gables
A new year has just truly begun and the above advertising poster, “New Year, Wellness 2016, New You” struck a chord in me the other day. This was in one of my favourite downtown Toronto bookstores. I particularly noted the word “Wellness” there. Of course, there’s a huge inventory of Wellness books and magazines carried in this store. Immediately, the thought came to me that I should plan to spend more time exercising in the gym, taking walks outdoors, making healthy “green” drinks and eating more fruits and vegetables. Maybe, I thought, I should even consider taking a yoga class. Yoga is good for the body and mind. After all, wellness is one of the most important things in life, if not the most important. Or, is it health?
Deepak Chopra
A few days after I had immersed myself in the Self-Help display, the Wellness, Health, Spirituality and New Age sections in the store, I became ill. Dizziness, nausea, and diarrhoea brought me to a state of unwellness. I felt very weak. My doctor said it was probably a virus. At least, I wasn’t dying. My main focus now became Wellness. Yet, I pondered what was the difference between Health and Wellness. According to the World Health Organization: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Even though I wasn’t healthy according to this definition, I would create and choose small moments of joy to bring me to “wellness.” Somehow, I sensed the feeling that this “wellness” required my active participation.
My cat, Cali, is a source of much joy to me. I consciously decided to be grateful that I was strong enough to give her food, water, and clean her litter box. I was also able to enjoy playing with her and this lifted my spirits. She doesn’t ask too much of me really. She just wants me to take care of her. Being able to take care of myself and take care of my cat were stepping-stones to “wellness.”
Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul. ~The Koran
My next-door neighbour dropped off the lovely potted Cyclamen plant at my door to cheer me up. She had called, only to find out, that I wasn’t well. I discovered that another person can be a vehicle for “wellness.” It wasn’t just the beauty of the flowers that helped to revive me but the thoughtfulness behind this deed. Somebody thought of me and cared enough to want to cheer me up.
When I wasn’t well enough to go out, I took out my colouring book, crayons, and markers, and decided to use this activity to propel me to Wellness. The pattern is provided in the colouring book but I get to choose the colours. This is where my own creativity comes in. It’s an activity I enjoy doing and having fun is part of health and wellness. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” I was slowing starting to feel better and better – “well.” I’m sixty-six years old. By the time a person gets to that age, when one is unwell, one never knows.
As soon as I was well enough to go out, I decided to use my gift certificate for a manicure. This was a Christmas present to me from my son and daughter-in-law. I decided to take care of myself. I was beginning to understand more and more that there were different components to “wellness.”
I love scones and tea – at home or at the bakery. I found a recipe for microwave scones and decided to try it for myself. It was very easy and tasted good. Finding easy ways to make things that I enjoy is another awareness about Wellness. With the winter weather here, there are times that it’s hard to get out to the bakery. Now I can make scones for myself very quickly and make my cup of tea.
As you can probably tell by now, the Wellness that I talked about in the beginning of this post is not the Wellness that I’m talking about at the end. My own personal discovery is that Wellness is more about the way that I create good and joyful moments and events in my own life. It’s about how I enhance and enrich my own life and the life of those around me. It’s about the meaning that I create in my own life. Health, on the other hand, is not a given. Many people do all the right things – exercise, meditate, eat right, sleep early, take their “Greens +” and do not have bodily health. One does have to take care of the body though and do all those things. It’s the only one we’re given to take us through life.
Wellness is not a ‘medical fix’ but a way of living – a lifestyle sensitive and responsive to all the dimensions of body, mind, and spirit, an approach to life we each design to achieve our highest potential for well-being now and forever. (Greg Anderson)
May you be well and enjoy life’s simple pleasures!