You are sitting there at your desk working away. Before you know it, the clock chimes and it is time to go home. Walking out of the office, you begin to feel like you spent the whole day doing things, but deep-down feeling like nothing got done. Sound familiar? How many days have you been having lately like that? Or how about those days that you get home, and you are so tired and frazzled, you question why you still work there?
Occupational Enrichment
The Occupational dimension is all about personal satisfaction and enrichment you feel in your work. Sure, you can truly love your job and everything your company stands for and still feel frazzled some days. The difference… is that you can feel in your soul that what you do matters. That acceptance of you and your work has a great impact on your personal well-being. You feel stronger, want to push harder, because you personally recognize that you not only enjoy what you do, but you also want to learn more about what you do.
Spiritual Enrichment
This enrichment can also impact your spiritual nature. The Spiritual dimension is not only about religion but the enrichment on a soulful level using the beliefs you hold strong. These beliefs give you a sense of meaning in life. (Note: in no way am I claiming a right or wrong about religion or spirituality. This is a general focus on beliefs as an entirety and how they generally impact your well-being.)
For the last 20 years, I have a personal belief that I was placed on this earth to care for others to the extent that their happiness must come ahead of mine, every time. To me, that was my meaning of life. I believed that the reason I have been feeling so lost in what I want in my life, even when I was in school, was because I was here to make everyone else happy. And I can tell you that it is not easy going through 30+ years of my life, wondering if I was ever going to be good enough. If I was ever going to be genuinely happy. At the age of 44 now, I can say I have found my meaning in my life.
Social Enrichment
On the track of enriching your well-being comes all familiar…social environment. Here, I struggle. And boy do I struggle. The Social dimension is a focus on the sense of connection, acceptance, and support from others. I write a blog and offer my support and acceptance to others so easily and yet I say I struggle on this one? You’ll see.
I have mentioned my childhood in other posts. So here is a quick rundown. First, I am the youngest and only girl. My two older brothers became protective of me, of course (and I still love them for it.) I became very shy as I also became the bigger girl in the group too. Never had many friends growing up. I stuck to one best friend at a time. Any time I was in a group of people that was more than 2 others, I would sit quietly, not to interrupt. As I grew up, those that had stronger personalities than I did, I became nervous and uncomfortable around them.
That lasted through high school. College pushed me out of my element and forced me to socialize more. It helped in many ways. Now today, I will still sit quietly in any group more than 2 or 3 people. The change became on the one on ones that I was more confident and assure of myself. I still struggle daily with believing that other accept me for who I am. Pushing myself into the mind frame of making others happy to accept me. I still get the feeling that I don’t know who I am or if I am good enough without having someone outside of my immediate family complementing me regularly. So, you can see, I struggle with social acceptance. Today, I have friends. However, I cannot give any one of them the level of best friend in which I could open my heart to. Not that any one of them would not accept me and help me if I needed it. I know I am closing that part off in fear of rejection.
Financial Enrichment
The last of the dimensions is the financial dimension of wellness. This one is one of the most difficult to manage in order for a healthier well-being. There are so many factors that can change resulting in stressful situations. So, let’s look at a more general form. Because we all know that job loss, natural disasters, the housing crash of 2008, and so many other events can strain the financial well-being. Besides these, the day-to-day life of the budget you have in place today. The acceptance and understanding what your financial situation is today and what it can be tomorrow.
Finances is one of highest factors that strain lives around the world. The constant worry of where the dollar goes and if there will be enough for food, can push the strain over the edge. Too many people are jailed for stealing, too many suffer from addictions of gambling in hopes of making it rich. Now think of this. You have a million in the bank. Are you going to start wondering if people are going talking to you because of your money? Will so-called “friends” come out of the wood works thinking you might give them some? Can you trust that everyone who wants to be around you is not for your money? There is a reason pictures of greed are with money.
The dimensions of wellness make you look at all of the angles in your life. Acceptance and enrichment, intellect and ability are all elements that a person should use at each factor in their life. Wellness takes effort. Well-being is not just mental and physical. A healthy wellness is a constant balance of emotions, environment, physical, intellectual, occupational, spiritual, social, and financial nature. To have a healthy well-being is a struggle with a reward of gratification.
With great warmth,
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