Well-Being

I can’t help but smile when I remember the conversation I had with my team on March 13, 2020. It was early days in the pandemic, back when we didn’t know what we didn’t know. We made plans to work remotely for a couple of weeks; we would be back to normal and back in the office in no time. Famous last words.  A couple of years later, we can now clearly see that normal has been redefined and nothing will be the same as it was prior to the pandemic.

It’s been a long 2 years.  We have just gotten to the point of learning to coexist with COVID when news of war in Eastern Europe has once again threatened the fragile sense of security we had started to regain.  It’s important to preserve and protect our well-being especially in prolonged seasons of uncertainty and stress.  The Berkeley Well-Being Institute defines well-being as “a sense of health and vitality that arises from your thoughts, emotions, actions, and experiences. When we have well-being, we feel happy, healthy, socially connected, and purposeful most of the time.” (www.berkeleywellbeing.com).

I am reminded of the story of the son who left home with his inheritance to seek happiness outside of his support system.  He had fun for a while, but when hard times came, he found himself alone and abandoned. He hit rock bottom.  He lost his sense of well-being.  When he came to his senses, he realized that the life he thought would provide fulfillment did not. The people he was striving to please did not have his best interest at heart. So he decided to go home - to that place where he could be himself, be loved and accepted just as he was; to that place where his well-being was nurtured. He went back to the place where he was enough. 

If your sense of health, happiness and vitality has taken a beating and needs to be restored, maybe it’s time to go “home”. Your well-being is the foundation to a truly well-lived life.