If you look on the internet, you will find a considerable amount of information on life wellness. Wellness is hard to define since it is a word of perception. What is well for one person may not be well for another. The Encarta Dictionary (English) explains wellness as a noun. According to this dictionary, it is the physical well-being, especially when maintained or achieved through good diet and regular exercise.

If I am to believe, and I do, that all the parts of my body are interconnected like a machine. If one part is damaged or broken, it has an adverse effect on the rest of this machine, your body. I am going to discuss five (5) areas that must be considered for complete wellness.

The first area is your BODY. Computer geeks say garbage in equal garbage out, how much more true for your body. Let us consider exercise. A body in motion will stay in motion. Have you notice that if a car sets for a long period, the oil becomes crystallized. Those of us in hurricane or tornado pathways can attest to having to boil water when the pipes have been dry, even for a few days. We must exercise our bodies even if it is simple walking; not all of us are equipped for “Tap Out,” or “Insanity” workout programs. Find what fits you and your lifestyle and get moving. In addition to movement, your body needs good nutrients. This is almost impossible today without going to a Whole Foods grocery or growing your own. Most of us simply take pills. High quality supplements are very important to sustain the well-being of the body.

The second area is your MIND. Scientist believes, at least on one school of thought, that the chances of Alzheimer is increased due to lack of information (oxygen) flowing to the brain. Could this possible be true? You mean a simple crossword puzzle; reading or learning something new might possibly ward off the onset of this disease. In addition to diseases, there are approximately 18.8 million or 9.5% of the U.S. population that suffer with major depression. This is not to neglect the statistics of other countries; their numbers are just as high. Depression can cause people literally to shut down, physically and emotionally. Therefore, we can now see how the body affects the mind, and how the mind affects the body.

The third area of wellness is FAMILY. It is not necessary to spend a lot of time here. When a family expresses healthy love and healthy support, our views on life can be just as reflective. All families have dysfunctions but families’ high dysfunctions can reap mayhem on the internal environment of the family as well as the external community.

SOCIETY then must be the fourth area of wellness. Face it; we cannot do a lot about the behaviors of others except to model good behaviors. We can be a positive force for our communities, cities, states and our nation. How you do this is up to you. The list is countless i.e. big brothers, big sisters, homeless, soup kitchens, and volunteering.

The fifth and final area of wellness is FINANCES. Most people do not want to be overly rich. They simply want to pay their pay their bills, put food on the table, and have health care. When finances are unwell, it can affect all the components above.

Therefore, in conclusion, we talked about the aspects of wellness. Wellness is defined as a noun, describing physical well-being. What we discovered is that wellness is more than our physical well-being. Wellness is attributed to five (5) areas of our lives such as: (1) BODY wellness consists of quality nutrients and exercise. (2) MIND wellness is attributed to positive and healthy brain stimulation. (3) FAMILY wellness is attributed to healthy love and healthy support. (4) SOCIETY wellness is in our ability to give of ourselves. And (5) FINANCIAL wellness is dependent upon the family’s ability to meet daily obligations and health needs

It is encouraging to have a road map to wellness. I hope you are equally encouraged as well.