Creating Wellness
Rachel Tracy
John Aguilar, M.Div., Ph.D.
December 12, 2010
Creating Wellness
As health care professionals, we spend our time caring for those around us. Regardless of our role, a patient comes to us and we diagnose a problem and try to rectify it. This method has served the Western World for centuries. But, as we learn and grow we have to ask ourselves, is this enough? Can we continue with this narrow view of ourselves and others?
For health care professionals, it’s essential that we look at every aspect of humanity. This includes looking at psychology, spiritual and the physical components of us and others. To be able to help others effectively, these are areas we must first develop in ourselves. According to Dacher, “ Unlike all other living beings, we are born with a unique and highly developed consciousness that endows human life with the capacity for language, creative imagination, self-reflection, discriminating intelligence, loving-kindness, and a good heart” (Dacher, 2006). Considering we alone are capable of this kind of holistic capacity, we are compelled to create this sort of environment. Not only for ourselves, but for those who surround us.
One area I continually work on developing is my self esteem. Something that I have lacked since childhood. It’s also something that affects my day to day life in that at times I find myself doubting my abilities. Not only my ability to diagnose, but choosing the right treatment and convincing others that my choices are correct. I always have reference books on hand, but just the feelings of trepidation when dealing with triage and acute situations overwhelm me at times.
I have had issues spiritually in my life simply because I assumed spirituality solely revolved around God and religion. As I get older I realize this is not true, that spirituality can mean many different things to everyone. I do believe in God. I began my life believing without question, went through tribulations that led me to question, then back to God again. Essentially coming full circle with my beliefs. I have witnessed some amazing things in my line of business that some people probably wouldn’t believe. Things I may not have believed had I not witnessed it myself. But more than that, I believe spirituality is all around us. I see it in a thunderstorm, the phone call from my husband when somehow he senses I am in an emotional crisis. The sound of my daughter’s singing coming from the back seat when she doesn’t think I can hear her. Watching the sunset from my back deck and just being thankful that I have a back deck and a beautiful home that I worked hard for.
I have worked hard my entire life, an innateness that I inherited from my father. It’s also something I inadvertently looked for in a spouse and something I instill in my daughter. I feel strong in my core, but I know that as I have gotten older, I have gotten softer. I took my physical well being for granted in my youth, which is normal I think. The older I get, the more important it becomes and the more difficult it is to maintain. I know every time I go to my doctor I will be lectured. I need to lose weight and I need to stop smoking. I do feel better on the days I get up and exercise, I feel stronger, lighter, prettier and ready to take on the world. Who wouldn’t want to feel like this every day?
To begin this journey I have set goals. Spiritually, my goal has been to really listen and pay attention to everything around me and how it all relates to one another. By doing this, I believe it will help me understand the oneness of our connections and truly appreciate the beauty within myself and my surroundings.
Psychologically I need to work on my self esteem. I need to feel ok within my own mind and have the power for my convictions. I also struggle with taking the time for my own mental health. Usually what happens is I reach a breaking point and realize I have nothing left to give. It’s only at that point do I realize the situation I am in and allow myself the time to turn off the phone, take a day off work and just do something for myself that I enjoy. I realize that waiting until the breaking point doesn’t help me at all. I need to replenish my capacities on a regular basis, this way I do not reach crisis points and I can better care for others.
My goals physically are to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. I know that the only way to do this is with diet and exercise. But more than that it’s a lifestyle change and something I will choose for life. I have to eat healthy every day; I have to exercise consistently and continue to challenge myself. Smoking is a difficult area for me. I rationalize that I do not smoke that much and frankly I enjoy it. I have to make that mental change, re-record that tape in my head, and focus on the reasons to stop. My family, my health, my patients.
So this means I need to give myself positive reinforcement instead of negative. I need to tell myself all of my achievements repeatedly until I accept the fact that I am worthy. If I do make a mistake, I need to learn from it after I realize that everyone is fallible, even me. But I can take the negative and turn it into a positive.
I need to set aside a couple of hours every week for just myself. I have learned that I can’t help others if I don’t take care of myself. This means rejuvenating my psyche on a continuous basis so that I don’t burn out. Meditation has not worked for me up to now, so this is something I will continue to work on. I will also continue to get lost in my books. This is something I have done since the age of ten and I feel it’s cultivated to a science. Strange as this may sound, I joke that I am a professional reader that is how important it is to me.
Lastly, I have become best friends with my tread mill. I know using my tread mill daily is something I will have to labor with daily. Not the actual act of doing it, but the motivation I need daily to get it done. Another goal I have is to instill the same in my daughter. I plan on taking walks with her, something we enjoy. This will not only help physically, but potentially bring us closer together and give us the opportunity to bond on a deeper level. She and I are buddies and spend most of our time together because my husband travels for work. My concern stems from the fact that she is moving into the teenage years and I want to ensure that bond is strong. In addition, my shopping and cooking needs to become healthier. Not just for myself but my family as well, improving everyone’s health and well being.
One of my concerns regarding evaluating my commitment to these changes is that six months is a long time from now. I have to focus on making daily choices, weekly planning and focusing on what needs to be done. So, I need to plan out grocery trips and making lists prior to going. I must get up every day with the intention of doing some form of physical exercise. I must also daily set aside time for myself to decompress or escape so I can rest my mind. I will be the most useful to my family, patients and myself if I am able to rejuvenate spiritually and begin anew every morning.
So in six months time I should be lighter in mind, body and soul. There will be simple ways to gauge my success. The numbers on the scale will be blissfully smaller. My hair will be shinier and skin more translucent from healthy eating and exercising. In overcoming my insecurities and dealing with stress in an efficient manner my mind will be clearer. This will be apparent in the decisions I make and the image I will portray. I will be confident in myself and my decisions. Lastly, by taking care of my soul I will be able to care for those around me. By doing all this I will not be exhausted on my drive home at the end of the day. I will walk around portraying openness and love. I will leave a trail of happiness and satisfaction with people knowing that I am truly interested and invested. And if I’m really good, I will need to buy new clothes!
References
Dacher, E. S. ( 2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc
