The Frightening Reality of Well-Being

Let’s be honest. Few people are one thousand percent well. We’re either striving for wellness, marginally satisfied, or hoping we’ll be well and satisfied eventually. That’s it! Human beings the world over have not mastered the secrets to a successful experience for our souls on earth.

Sure. Sure, there are plenty of individuals who’ve declared themselves enlightened and wise. Many have concocted spiritual schemes to suit their taste buds. Some developed guidelines for those of us who hope to be good people someday. But ironically, these most sincere spiritual practitioners purporting to love their fellow man unconditionally typically find it necessary to withdraw from the company of their fellow man. Why? Well, that’s simple. They don’t want to be compromised by the noise of unsolved puzzles, unanswered questions, and selfish desires buzzing just below the threshold of perception in all public spaces; the reasons why a smile from a stranger is often deceptive. And frankly, those Jedi masters simply don’t want to share what they’ve come to know to be closer to universal truth than anything else they’ve tested. Which of course can be tried in the fires of modern skepticism and found to boil down to a matter of opinion.

Sad huh? But I’m not trying to spoil the party. I’m just funning with the challenge of producing spiritual healthy, heroically selfless people in a world built upon appetite, instant gratification, consumption, greed, competition, war, etc. You know, a typical day in the twenty-first century.

Right now, things are hard. And even though we’ve paid our psychologists, doctors and therapists handsomely we’re only left with some coping tricks with a short shelf life. Not to mention we’re broke and dissatisfied but uncertain as to how to amicably part company with our puffed-up professional advisors who wish to plan our journey for us rather than walk along with us. No wonder the traditional style of caring for people has proven inadequate to put it mildly. That’s why many have taken to the streets, overturned vehicles, torched offices, and battled with the National Guard in close quarters for the ‘right’ to attend to their own sense of wellness. These insurgents believe a holistic approach to self-care is all that and your little dog too. Now, reporting live from the battlefield, I have relevant information concerning the promises of sound mind and holistic healing as a potential rescue plan.

In a nutshell, a holistic approach to well-being insists on treating the whole person in question, not merely the symptoms of an out of whack mind and body. As for the mind which many believe imparts good health to a person’s body, there’s a plethora of practices purported to restore and/or maintain that person’s wellness. Such practices can include breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, tai chi, mindfulness, religion, etc. As for getting the body to behave itself, don’t get me started. Let’s see, there’s rigorous physical exercise, a vegan or vegetarian diet, an active lifestyle, standing up rather than sitting while working, Matcha tea, black Macca root powder, making love, adequate sleep, and so on.

So, as you can see people - we have plenty of options for attaining physical and mental health. But I would encourage you, my reader to find a strategy that works best for you, and which may not have been mentioned here yet. Most of the strategies I’ve mentioned are trendy and adequate for certain phases of our lives, yes. But you may find it necessary to adopt another approach as your needs and circumstances change. And if there’s one thing for certain it is that there will be subtle and abrupt changes in our lives. So, embrace the challenge of finding peace of mind and contentment no matter where you find yourself. Working hard at it in one way or another will pay off handsomely.

Here are some tricks of the trade. Most people who have been around long enough have discovered that being kind to others has a supernatural power all its own, and that wisdom attracts optimistic company and good fortune. So - be kind and study closely the underpinnings of your reality, adequately address your center of gravity, and you will achieve a well-adjusted and healthy lifestyle.

I was just joking when I titled this post. I only wanted to get your attention. But true well-being is a frightening proposition only when we’re seduced by the distractions of contemporary life. I don’t have to tell you what your distractions are. You know them better than me. So, in short, summon the audacity and belief in yourself to do what you’ve come to suspect you must do to guarantee a purposeful and graceful world worthy of your potential. Study the examples of those you admire for all the right reasons. With a steady practice of proper virtues, you can count yourself among them. And we’ll have a world with one more enlightened influencer, who incidentally may struggle with whether to live a secluded life or not. However, in the final analysis you might find that impossible.

Why? That’s easy enough. Because no human feeling or activity ever takes place in complete isolation. All human imagery, feeling, and activity is interrelated. We are dependent on the input and output of others. The fact is we rely heavily on one another for our very sense of self and our purpose. Try as we might, we will not succeed in turning our backs on the human family. If we do try, we may succeed for many years, or even a lifetime, but only at tremendous cost to our personal well-being.

It may well be that true well-being is for lack of a better word, utopian. It does suggests an ideal that will only be achieved when our world is well suited for us and vice versa. That said, my belief is we are approaching a golden age (refer to an earlier post, ‘The Survival of Happiness’).

Given the treacherous state of affairs masquerading as an advanced global society, we are called upon to rescue this world. It is in fact the only means of saving our family because it requires soul-searching and drawing on our innermost individual talents and strengths. The future may seem daunting because the reality is frightening. We’re facing war, poverty, injustice, the damning duality of “liberty,” and the most troublesome thing to think about - the phasing out of the penny. Now that’s just wrong.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah - we must find and cultivate the treasure within us. Then and only then can we find equally valuable properties in this new age. And these valuables abound in the guise of sound mind, sound people, and worthwhile exploration and adventure. So, enjoy the here and now therewith, and teach others the truths you acquire.

But if you just need to talk to someone right now, you can always call the Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787. If you feel like a danger to yourself, call 988.