Most people only focus on a few parts of their wellness. Whether financial, physical, intellectual, or social, they forget to care for others. This visual is an excellent representation of how every part of wellness needs to be met to achieve overall individual health.
I wanted to share my experience with wellness. Throughout high school, I have gained so much self-confidence and have been able to ground myself. What changed to get me to where I am now is, that I took time and worked on what I had been missing before. I was in wellness class sophomore year and was handed a wellness wheel like that one above. I was told to color in each category to the amount I felt I was achieving right then in my life, and I realized that I had no balance. I was focusing too much on my social life and school environment that I forgot about the rest. To help paint a picture of who I was sophomore year, I barely said any words in class and only talked to close friends. I was scared to put myself out there.
Over my junior year and senior year, I worked to gain confidence and ultimately transformed who I was without changing who I am; I focused on who I was surrounding myself with and making sure they had a positive impact on me. I started going to the gym often and realized I have a love hate relationship with running. I found a sense of gratitude for the opportunities I have been given, and now look at things in the bigger picture. But my wellness journey wasn't easy; I had to let go of people holding me back from being my best self. I found that it helped to talk to someone and let go of the extra "baggage" I held on to. I realized that holding grudges was a waste of time. People need to know that all of this takes time; you don't wake up one day and decide to be a holistically healthy and "well" person. You have to work for it. Every day you can make choices that help shape who you are; everything is a choice. You never have to do something. Once I truly realized that my time on this earth is a gift and found my confidence, I am no longer afraid to put myself out there, make mistakes, and try new things. I want that for everyone because it is freeing. I am in a better mindset than in my sophomore year, and it feels great. Now I'm not saying that I still don't have bad or sluggish days; everyone has those days. Honestly, that is a part of wellness to handle a bad day and know that tomorrow will be better. Having lazy days and learning that is okay. I guess what I'm trying to convey here is that it is possible to get from point A to B; I have done it, and that at the end of the day, you have the choice to start a wellness journey of your own.
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