What does wellbeing feel like for you?
We know it when we feel it and it can encompass many things. It’s that delicious feeling of contentment, a sense that all’s well in the world when we literally want for nothing.
But all of us sometimes face challenges and times in our life when it can sometimes seem more elusive, a mere memory.
Understanding where our emotional and mental wellness comes from and discovering how we can have more of it isn’t always straightforward. But once we understand the truth about wellbeing, then no matter what bumps and storms life brings, we know we are unshakeable.
Where does wellbeing come from?
We’re taught from such a young age that it comes from the things we own – the car we drive, the house we live in, how we look, or the impressive job title we have.
Spend any time scrolling through social media and it can also seem as if wellbeing comes from complicated self-care routines and how often we are able to book ourselves into an exclusive spa.
But it’s funny how these practices that so often begin as nurturing routines can quickly deteriorate into yet another set of chores to be completed each day.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing these activities especially when they are something we enjoy doing. We are simply getting it the wrong way around when we do them to reach a specific goal of feeling good about ourselves, when we start to believe that doing them is essential to our wellbeing.
The truth is that wellbeing is already ours.
There is nothing we need to buy or do to uncover it. Endless routines or self-care practices are not required to maintain it.
We have it now, no matter what is going on in our lives – it comes as part of our innate humanness.
I get this can seem unrealistic when we are up to our eyes in difficulties in our own life or overwhelmed with events in the wider world. But wellbeing isn’t about complication or adding anything extra to our life.
It’s far more simple than that.
Even in the most trying of circumstances, the most difficult of episodes in our lives, all of us can point to moments when we have gasped at the incredible beauty of a starry sky, shared a deep connection with a loved one or felt inspired and touched when hearing of acts of kindness or heroism.
During these moments, however quickly they pass, we sense the truth of this deep sense of peace and realise that it was never about having to “do” or “try” to create the right conditions. More we see that it was about falling into a feeling.
I’m sure you know what I’m talking about - these experiences are common to all of us. Admittedly, they may seem more obvious when we’re on holiday or doing something we enjoy but they can even be found among the routines of daily life.
This sense of wellbeing naturally develops as we settle down and slow down our minds and our lives, as we notice the world as it is in this moment.
What we’re in effect doing is turning down and tuning out the loud voice in our head so that we can hear the quiet, always present, gentle whispering of our soul.
The voice that knows there is nothing wrong with us, that we’re not broken and that all is well.
So if you’re interested in uncovering your own innate wellbeing, trust it’s already there.
Take one or two deep breaths and be with yourself, now, in this moment.
As you start to recognise your innate tranquility, I promise you, it will become a greater part of your life and you will know it’s always there with you no matter what the circumstances of your life.