Wellness has become a bit of a buzz word as of the past year or so. As an entrepreneur who uses health coaching and professional organizing as tools to help people see where they are cluttered, unwell, unbalanced and unfulfilled that would be great news!
While it is great to hear that so many people want to be “well”, what I fear is that as a buzz word, people don’t stop to think long enough what well really means.
Instead we tend to rely more on what labels tell us, or food companies – or even me! We listen more to what others tell is about what it means to be well, and less from what we feel it means to us.
I am certainly not suggesting that other people don’t have valid information to share. Getting guidance is important. There is a lot of information out there so finding a trusted source can help clear the confusion so you can best understand what works for you.
It is you listening to you that is what is most important.
And it takes time to develop that. Time that those seeking instant gratification don’t think they have. But using time to really pay attention to what it is we want to feel, and what well would really mean to us individually is a key part of what wellness is about.
And there is also a key to what wellness is not.
It’s not perfect.
No part of getting well, or being well is about perfection. I can easily say it (and I’ve written about it) but if you have ever suffered from any perfectionism – this belief that there is a perfectly right way to do or say or be – you know how hard it can be to practice. And to keep it in check so it doesn’t take over – and detract you from the all important progress that is integral to any and all wellness.
Whether you are getting healthy by organizing something or taking on a food challenge, you must keep perfect out of the equation and keep progress in. Focus on perfect enough and let any kind of growth be your measure towards wellness.
Because here is the deal, you will:
Slip up.
Have moments of chaos and clutter
Get upset, cry, be off.
And you will recover. And you will grow from it all.
If you know what works for you, if you know what your goal is, if you trust in your ability to learn – you will survive setbacks and even the smallest forms of unrest. And things will be perfect — enough.
The bottom line is that working to attain the unattainable perfect in how our space looks or how we feel is not what makes us well.
The challenges, the set backs, and all the messiness in between do.
The listening, the trusting, the learning do.
And perhaps most importantly, it is the progress towards well makes us well.
Much more than aiming for perfect ever will.
