Be Well, Live Well – Part 2
- Kristina Schmitt
- Jul 14
- 2 min read
Why Three Is Better Than One
We’ve all been told that we should exercise more, drink more water, or eat more vegetables so we can live longer and healthier lives, but physical wellness isn’t enough. In last month’s article, we redefined wellness beyond our physical health and described it as an overall wellness consisting of mental, physical, and spiritual components.
While it may seem like I’ve just added more to your to-do list, understanding how the three components work together will help you have greater success.
Your physical, mental, and spiritual wellness are inextricably linked. When you’re struggling in one area, you may find that it’s something from a different area holding you back. Additionally, you may find that improving in one area drives the improvement in the others. From personal experience:
When I was struggling with work stress, starting to run helped me overcome it.
When I was feeling overwhelmed, focusing on growing my faith helped me clarify priorities and grow in confidence.
Armed with strong faith and healthy physical habits, I’ve been able to navigate extremely stressful situations and now am focusing on further growing my mental wellness.
Unfortunately, the link happens in the opposite direction as well. Also, from personal experience, when I’m having a very stressful period, I will tend to skip my 5am workout which leads to skipping a second day and eventually leads to not having worked out in three weeks, feeling very tired, and skipping my prayer time. Rather than getting the “extra rest” I convince myself that I’m getting, I’m just allowing my mental state to drag down the other two parts. The fix is not taking a nap, it’s pushing myself to get out of bed and exercise again.
Think of three parts of a pie connected trying to move up a rod. You will only improve one area so far before it starts to pull the other areas up. The trouble is, if you continue to only pull on one part, it starts to become very difficult to move any of them and eventually you’ll get stuck. Now imagine moving one up, then moving the other up, then the next one up. The entire process is easier.
Similarly, when you’re tightening the bolts on a wheel, if you tighten one too much, then it won’t seat properly. You need to do a turn on the first one, a turn on the one across, and continue to work in the crisscross pattern to get the best fit.
Look at your overall wellness. Which area has been your primary focus? How has that impacted the other two? Is it time to focus on a different area to increase your success?
Need help balancing your wellness? Let's Talk.
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