Wellness, Self-Responsibility, and Love

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Wellness, Self-Responsibility, and Love

Wellness is like a bridge supported by two piers. Each pier is crucial to the bridge’s integrity just as the two principles of self-responsibility and love are fundamental to the process of wellness. In each case, the piers support a connection between two distant points, allowing for movement back and forth. This freedom to move between different places or attitudes, rather than rigid attachment of any particular one, is the hallmark of wellness.

Self-responsibility and love establish a life-context in which freedom and flexibility are natural. They are primary expressions of life energy. Self-responsibility and love together form the foundation of wellness, and encourage the free flow of all other types of energy; if either principle (or pier) is weakened, living harmoniously (or traversing the bridge) becomes more difficult. When both are strong, energy dances back and forth, and the crossing is easy.

Self Responsibility Means:
• Developing awareness of your own processes and patterns—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual
• Discovering your real needs, and finding ways to meet them directly
• Realizing that you are unique and the expert about yourself
• Making choices and living courageously in the midst of uncertainty
• Creating the life you want, rather than just reacting to whatever comes along
• Asking simply and directly for what you need and want from others
• Expressing yourself, both your ideas and feelings, in ways that effectively communicate to other people who you are, and what you know
• Respecting your body through nutrition, exercise, and personal safety
• Creating and nourishing close relationships with others
• Engaging in projects that are meaningful to you; being supportive of others; and respecting your environment.

Love Means:
• Honoring your uniqueness, and enjoying the uniqueness of others
• Listening to your own heart— treasuring your inner wisdom
• Responding to life’s challenges as opportunities for growth, rather than as problems
• Caring for all aspects of yourself—body, mind, emotions, spirit—and sharing your caring with others
• Exercising compassion for your weaknesses, and forgiving yourself and others
• Experiencing yourself as your own best friend, and remaining faithful to yourself, especially in the rough times
• Realizing your connectedness with all things
• Being truthful with yourself and others
• Celebrating the irrepressible process of life.

With love and self-responsibility as our foundations and supports, living and wellness are synonymous.