Achieving and maintaining wellness is so important. It bleeds into every aspect of your life. From your health to your social life. When you are living well you are living your best life. A life free of restrictions mentally and physically. Living well is, in my opinion, the best and only way to live. However, everyone seems to paint this picture of sunshine and rainbows when it comes to wellness. There is a lot that isn’t talked about. I want to talk about it. I want to out it out there because you deserve to know the truth. You deserve to know it, so, it will not be easier, but you will have realistic expectations.

So let’s chat about the 5 things no one wants to talk about when it come to wellness. You deserve to know.

Let’s start off with what I feel is the biggest thing that is overlooked. This is something that once you accept it will not be easier per say but will be less frustrating. 

1. Wellness is something that needs daily tending in all areas. I believe in connected wellness. Wellness of the mind, body, and soul. We are all three, therefore, when working towards wellness, it is important to tend to all three. It is a daily venture. Wellness isn’t about drastic changes that you do for a little while then get burned out and stop. It is about the little habits that you build over time that become apart of your daily life. The sooner you accept this, the better you’ll be in the long run. Don’t put added pressure on yourself about tending to your mind, body, and soul every single day. Think about the daily tending as most days. The 80/20 rule is great for what consistency really looks like. Consistency is what you do 80% of the time. Daily tending to your mind, body, and soul 80% of your days will yield the desired affect (total wellness). Letting go of the pressure that 100% brings will help to eliminate burnout. 

2. To be able to maintain that daily tending, wellness must be a priority! There is no way around it. Your wellness is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing in your life. If you are not well in any area, mind, body, or soul, it trickles down into every aspect of your life. For example, it is natural for parents to want to put their children’s needs before their own. It seems like that is what parents are supposed to do. It feels counterintuitive to put yourself first. Selfish even. What if I told you that that was false. That it is social conditioning and guilt that makes you feel that way. Here’s why. In order for you to be the best parent you can be, you must be the best person you can be. You cannot be the best you if you don’t make yourself a priority. Self-first is NOT selfish! Release that guilt that you need to put others needs before your own. Even your family’s needs. Remember, as a parent YOU are the role model. Don’t you want to set the example to your children how important their wellness is?! And for those of you that aren’t parents, there should be no guilt at all with putting yourself first. No on else is going to make that sacrifice, not your friends, not your job, so why should you?

3. This next one is the kicker. It is the number one reason people derail from their wellness. There is no instant gratification. Wellness is a slow burn and is for the long term. This is quite the opposite of what we want. As humans it is natural to desire instant gratification. We want results and we want them now. But that isn’t how life works. Not if you want long term results. Why do we think that we can undo a lifetime of not taking care of ourselves in a matter of days or weeks? Diet culture LOVES to prey on this. You spend years not eating right and not taking care of your body then some fad diet comes around promising you help you lose 15 pounds in just 14 days. It doesn’t even make sense. It takes way longer than 14 days to  put on the weight so why would it come off in 14 days? Living well is a marathon, not a sprint. And unfortunately, results take time. Wellness is for living a healthy life and preventing illness. So, a lot of the results aren’t measurable because it is things that don’t happen that matter. 

4. Wellness is hard. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise. Living well has the most powerful “why” there is but it doesn’t make it any easier. The “why” of quality of life, in my opinion, is the most powerful because if you don’t have quality of life, what do you have? You could have all the money in the world but without the ability to enjoy is physically, mentally, and spiritually, what good is it? Having that strong why will keep you going but I don’t want to sugar coat it and say that it will be easy. Our society is not build on wellness and people taking care of themselves. Quite the opposite really. That is part of the challenge. You are going against the grain. Wellness is a journey, not a destination. That is why keeping your focus on your why and understanding and accepting making yourself a priority by tending to your needs daily is so important. Which leads us to our final thing no one tells you about wellness…

5. There will be ups and downs. You will not be perfect on your wellness journey. You will get burned out. You will fall out of your routines. You will “go through phases” of eating unhealthy, not exercising, not taking the necessary steps to manage your stress. This is all NORMAL. That is why earlier we talked about consistency is doing something 80% of the time. It cuts down on the fatigue and relieves the pressure. When you “fall off” the wellness wagon, don’t give up, get back on. It is never too late, you are never too far gone, and you are ALWAYS worth it! Along with the down days there will be up days. There will be days that you experience a joy that you didn’t know existed. Days where everything connects and all of your effort feels so with it. Days that you surprise yourself with how far you’ve come. Days where you think “this is what life is all about”. You will have ups and downs but I promise you that there will be more ups than downs the more you focus on your wellness. And you can get through the lowest lows and deserve to feel the highest highs.

I hope that you have a better understanding and more of a realistic view of wellness. I am not trying to discourage you from your wellness journey(obviously). I just want you to be aware of everything that goes along with living well. The more information you have the better equipped you will be, and the better equipped you are, the better your chances for success!

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Until next time, stay well my friends!