Beginning a New Chapter of Wellness

I'm in love with today's #NaBloPoMo prompt: Discuss this famous Anais Nin quote: "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

I love this quote and may pin it to my laptop, ipad, and just about everywhere.

I feel that this quote encapsulates the beginning of any new chapter in life. When your current situation is no longer viable, you are that bud, and it's easy to stay in that uncomfortable but because it is what you know. But after a while, you can no longer abide by the discomfort and have to try something new.


I definitely feel this way about my life...up until recently, I was a crazy workaholic whose primary activities revolved around work to the detriment of my health. I kept getting sicker despite all the great medications, and finally my body couldn't take it anymore and broke down. I stayed in a bit of a stasis during that broken down period because it was scary to contemplate anything else. Recently, it has become too painful to stay in that stasis, so I am embracing this new chapter of my life where I am focusing on not only getting healthier but being mentally, emotionally and physically well. That is my purpose, my long and short term goal.


This is brand new for me, because I have dedicated my life to helping others up until this point and haven't really taken care of myself. This new chapter requires me taking a huge step backwards, putting myself, my health and wellness first. It's scary, but it's too painful and frankly dangerous for my health to go back to the life I previously led.


I had a conversation the other day with someone about the difference between being healthy and being well. Healthy - to me - relates to sickness or the lack thereof. Wellness is more about quality of life - having a good balance of work, fun, friends, family, and self-care. You can definitely have one without the other, but without wellness, life can be very difficult.


So as I'm on my path to wellness, I'm learning to do things for me. Today I'm going to either one or two yoga classes (haven't decided yet), and going to spend time with two close friends.

How do you define wellness? What does it mean to you?

Do you have an example of where today's quote applies to your life?


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