Well-being encompasses physical and mental health, but also emotional, social, spiritual, environmental, professional, and financial health. We tend to focus on the first two aspects of well-being because they often give us the most pain, but all 8 Facets are important. They are also related: deficiencies in one area also causes problems in other areas.
For example, not having enough money coming in to pay the bills and lead to stress. In the short term, stress can lead to discomfort like insomnia or digestive issues. In the long term, stress has been linked to increased risk of chronic diseases in the long-term. For women especially, keeping a watchful eye on financial well-being now can help to prevent money issues in our older age.
As another example, emotional health is related to our social experiences, in the sense that relationships that bring us peace and joy promote positive emotional well-being, while relationships that are filled with conflict can leave us emotionally drained. While all these aspects of well-being are connected, women are lucky if they manage to take care of their physical health. And to be honest, most women are too overwhelmed to realize that we have so many parts of ourselves that require attention.
Yet, the elusive ‘balance’ that we hear so much about (in theory) involves doing well in all 8 Facets of Well-being. This can be difficult for women who have so many responsibilities beyond looking after their own well-being. How are you doing in the 8 Facets of Well-being? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time,
Be well
Lisa
PS. If you’d like a quick assessment of how you are doing with the 8 Facets of Well-being in your life, take the free quiz.