Wellness. Who am I to write a blog on wellness. ? I’m 45 years old and work three jobs over seventy hours a week. I have Type 2 Diabetes. I have already suffered a heart attack. At various points in time over the past six years, I have been diagnosed with: cluster headaches, a partially torn rotator cuff, chronic pancreatitis, a herniated disc, insomnia, and god knows whatever else I’m forgetting. Something ALWAYS hurts. Top that all off with depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and WHO THE HELL AM I TO WRITE A BLOG ON WELLNESS? I am genuinely hoping for an answer over the course of my writing this.
Dictionary.com defines wellness as “the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort”. Therein lies the qualifier for me. That last part – did you catch it? “Deliberate effort.” Every ounce of my deliberate effort goes to providing for my family. There is no time for me to do the things I love. Hell, I don’t even know if I still love doing them. As I’m typing this, I can’t help but think about all the folks who are operating in the same manner. Does wellness look different to me/us? Does that in and of itself make me/us unwell? I guess that’s up to a professional to decide.
Let me back up a few steps – please do not read this as a cry for help. That’s not what this is. This is me flying by the seat of my pants trying to figure out what thoughts to put to paper in this exact moment candidly. My mind is racing a hundred different directions, and I’m struggling. My pets are demanding my attention. Distractions abound. I just crammed a box of Pasta Roni down my gullet at 10:15 PM. Wellness, by dictionary standards, feels a long way off.
Wait a second…did I fumble through a couple of paragraphs and come up with at least a partial answer to my question? I am a hard worker who does not allow time for himself. My physical and mental health suffer from it. THAT is who I am and, maybe, THAT is why I am qualified to write a blog on wellness. I need it, more so than I care to admit. I need to deliberately seek it. I don’t know how. Is that you, as well? Maybe you and I both needed this exercise. I have seen hundreds of people share hundreds of ideas on how to achieve wellness, but I don’t think wellness is a box that everyone can be tidily placed in.
So, let’s chat. If you have cracked the code on how to work toward wellness when it feels like you don’t have the time or resources, please reach out to me – mike_mizer@1n5.org. In the meantime, I truly do wish you wellness, however, that looks to you. Thanks for reading.