Wellbeing and Thriving

As a starting point it’s important to note that wellbeing and the experience of wellness is completely subjective and dependent on a number of factors such as age, personal priorities etc.

With that caveat in mind, I am going to share my own expertise and experience on the topic. My definition of wellbeing or well-being is; feeling good about yourself and the world around you and functioning well in everyday life. It is ultimately about having a real sense of purpose in your life as a whole and is much more than simply being happy. It includes how in control and satisfied you are with your life.

 I am sure you are aware of good self-care practices that can help you improve and achieve a good sense of wellbeing e.g. good sleep habits, exercising regularly, eating healthily etc. I won’t spend too much time discussing them in this post for that reason. (See blog posts below)

Despite thinking I had a good grasp on the idea of wellness both from my experience professionally and personally, I feel my own sense of wellbeing only truly landed with me last month when I ran my first marathon (virtually). Now arguably there could have been a cocktail of things contributing to this revelation, the intense adrenaline rush of endorphins being one of them, but ultimately I believe it boiled down to 3 things for me.

 Firstly having that sense of connectedness with my closest friends, family and boyfriend there supportively cheering me on and kindly donating to my chosen charity. Secondly, I had a great sense of achievement in overcoming the physical challenge of breaking a half marathon distance, despite not breaking any records on pace. Lastly, and most importantly was my genuine gratitude and awareness of these positive things I have in my life.

 Usually when I run I literally only focus on the intense dance music I am listening to so I was surprised when my thoughts then spiralled to the elusive ‘R’ word, resilience. I concluded that if all else fails and my legs buckle, I know the world won’t stop and my life will keep pressing on. Despite these hypothetical scenarios being imagined and seemingly obvious, I made a few important connections on how resilience can be relied upon in any given situation.

Resilience can be found subtly in response to everyday stressors and after large life altering events such as surviving a global pandemic or serious accident.

 Ask yourself: ‘what challenges have you overcome in the last month, 6 months and year?’ Acknowledgement of this is key.

Now ask, ‘what can I do for myself to build my base of resilience and inject a little more fun into my life?’

Thriving, in my opinion comes when you prioritise yourself and your own enjoyment of life. It means you have a fuller ‘well’ to give from and your energy is spread correctly!

So do yourself a favour, fill your wellness toolbox with things you enjoy doing as well as practices you know help with your productivity and happiness. Make it a non-negotiable that you do at least one of these items each day and I can guarantee that you will no longer feel like you are just surviving each day. You will be thriving!