Author: Anne

This author has written 831 articles

I… WE

          Illness and Wellness.  What is the difference:  I… WE

It is no coincidence that one key difference between illness and wellness involves “I” and “we”.

Illness of any kind—physical, mental, intellectual, social—generally isolates one from the “we”—from family, friends, and community. Illness also can reduce the “I”—one’s capacity to participate in the everyday living necessary to sustain and enhance these interpersonal relationships.

Wellness, by contrast, implies the reverse: one can participate fully in everyday living and engage actively with others, and one can depend on receiving strong emotional support from others. One’s wellness can be sustained and enhanced by one’s own voice and actions—a strong “I,” and by effective social support from family, friends, and community—a strong “we.”

Source: Behavioral Healthcare Executive  https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/behavioral/blogs/ron-manderscheid/i-and-we-illness-and-wellness

REFLECTION:

  • Examine your Physical, Intellectual, Emotions/Social and Spiritual  (PIES) life. Is there any part where you are more focused on “I”?
  • How can you shift to more “WE” (fully engage in everyday living) and/or a strong “I”(own one’s voice)?
  • Take a step toward WEllness today!

ONE BEAT

There is in the very nature of life some essential joining force.  This inborn ability to find and enliven a common beat is the miracle of love.  For if two cells can find the common pulse* behind everything, how much more can full hearts feel when all excuses fall away.

* Research has shown the impact of love… two hearts beating together changes the body chemistry and pain.  “The more empathic the partner and the stronger the analgesic effect, the higher the synchronization between the two when they are touching,” said lead author Pavel Goldstein, a postdoctoral pain researcher in the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at CU Boulder.  Authors say such ‘interpersonal synchronization’ could play a role in the analgesic impacts of touch.

Quote by Mark Nepo

REFLECTION:

  • Just holding a loved ones hand can change their pulse.  Two hearts can join to have a common pulse and alter physiology. 
  • Hold the hand of a loved one or friend today and observe what happens. Are your heartbeats in sync?
  • How can you be more loving today – giving it freely?

BEING GRATEFUL

“In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”

Quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945)  was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity’s role in the secular world have become widely influential, and his book The Cost of Discipleship is described as a modern classic.

REFLECTION:

  • Have your received more than you have given?
  • Write down a list of things you are grateful for.
  • What “riches” do you possess that you can be grateful for?