Creating a Plan for Wellness & Maintaining Balance

Creating a PLAN FOR WELLNESS AND MAINTAINING BALANCE. [05-20-2023]

The pandemic gave us a unique experience of not being able to control what is happening in our lives.  Something like the experience of suddenly feeling so unsteady that I am afraid I might fall to the ground.  A strategy for achieving wellness and a healthy work/life balance (wellness) will include making healthy choices and the daily discipline that will keep me on the right track.

Here are practices that help me feel stable enough to make progress in both balance and wellness.

1. Daily Prayer.

When I am frustrated by stress and balance issues, pray. When I am upset in dealing with other people, pray. Prayer is a critical practice when it comes to work-life balance. It is the original, calming practice that Jesus used that connects me to God. Prayer calms, re-focuses, and provides the spiritual strength I need to find balance in my days. I carve out quality time for Sunday Eucharist, and for a time of private prayer every day (which may include a Prayer Journal). I learn to place all stress and struggles before Jesus who always helps.

2. Spiritual and Emotional Support.

I can maintain balance by establishing regular and substantial support across these core areas:

• “Daily Dialogue.”  I absolutely need a person or more than one person with whom I can share my thoughts and feelings and fears and hopes and dreams.  If I am married the ideal dialogue partner will be my spouse.  If this is not possible I will get assistance (maybe professional assistance) to create a healthy Plan for daily dialogue.  (It does not have to be “daily”, but it has to be possible whenever I need it…which might be every day!)  It may be that Zoom is the best way to meet with anyone other than my spouse.
   
• Spend Time with Spouse, Children, extended Family and Friends.  Spending time with spouse, family and friends can balance my work life. Household chores, family meals, social activities, sports and games, time with friends takes planning, but is more than worth the effort. The perspective and support gained from relationships can make such a difference when I am stressed, overwhelmed, and trying to balance work and life.  Spending time with family and friends had to be re-thought during Covid-19 …. How to keep “social distance” while knowing it is important to stay socially connected? If you are an artist , dancer or a musician and usually connect with likeminded people then use social media to do this. Create a ‘bookclub”. Connect on Zoom  so you can share experiences like concerts, styles and techniques. Musicians can get together online and perform for each other and talk about the stories behind the music. The point is that we look for creative ways to substitute for what we use to do face to face if social distance is still necessary.
   
• Spiritual direction by Zoom, regularly, with a wise director. (This person does not have to be a priest.)
   
• Choosing a confessor and seeing him regularly for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and ceasing all grave sin.  Face to face is ideal, but not essential!
   
• Work/ministry supervision using Zoom: find a mentor or supervisor, someone you can bring the challenges to and ask for feedback/advice/suggestions.  What can I DO?  See what you think of this “TED TALK” >  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X41iulkRqZU&t=15s
   
• If addictions or mood disturbance are part of my story, then attending self-help meetings and/or seeing a counselor are crucial for maintaining emotional wellness.  This can be done using Zoom.

3. Care for Our Bodies

God has given me one body for this life. Caring for it allows me to be fully present in my work and to care for others. Getting a yearly physical, taking all medications as prescribed, managing any chronic disease, and following up on any specialty appointments are critical to maintaining optimal physical health. Maintaining good nutrition and eating healthfully is also important. Exercise has great rejuvenating effects and is critical to well-being. When I feel stressed and out of balance, exercise and good nutrition rebalance. I need to feed my brain and gut with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, protein, rich greens, antioxidants, and GMO/pesticide-free whole grains. If you used to workout with others in a gym, you might opt for hiking and biking outdoors.  

4. Simplify My Life

Jesus and his disciples lived simply. Jesus had access to all the riches of heaven, but he chose to live simply and called on his disciples to do the same. Pope Francis exhorts us today to do the same. Figure out what is most important to me in life and hold it dearly. Let the rest go.

5. Come to Terms with My Relationship with Money

Our desire to accumulate and spend can spur us to work extreme hours in order to accumulate money and “stuff”. I will develop a habit of budgeting my money and living within my means. If I can appreciate the need for and the benefits of money while watching my expenses and not allowing the desire to accumulate money & things to become my dominant value, then I can more easily make the choice to spend my time on meaningful work and assisting others without the distraction of money.

6. Designate a Quiet Space for Rest

It is important to have a space in my residence to which I can retreat when feeling stressed. It does not have to be large, but it does need to be a place of quiet for prayer, reflection, and sanctuary.

7. Invite the Holy Spirit into each activity of my live.

Think of work/service and family/friend contact as a spiritual time, not as a distraction. That way, each movement toward others can be a spiritual experience. Thinking of the routines of life as spiritual practices can make these moments sacred and can allow me to be more fully present with everyone I deal with, rather than viewing daily chores as obligations one has to get through.

8. Go on Retreats and Vacations.

Rest is important enough that I should also set aside significant periods of time dedicated to it. Our bodies, minds and spirits need to lie fallow, like farmland, in order to be refreshed. Taking a week or two of vacation can help do that. Retreats are a potent time for spiritual renewal, prayer, and renewal of devotions. These are important opportunities for rest and grace, and I should make the most of them.

9. Take a Break Each Evening before bed.

There is an old and wise saying: "This is enough for today. That's what the good Lord made tomorrow for."  Make those words your evening mantra and be sure to end each day with a good examination of conscience and night prayer.