Striving for Wholeness
Striving for wholeness in your life is a journey that involves a holistic approach through recognizing, nurturing, integrating, and harmonizing various interrelated aspects or dimensions of your life that contribute to your overall well-being, functioning, and flourishing. Here a few of these dimensions that you may wish to consider, together with some suggested ways to nourish and support them*:
Physical: This includes the body's health, fitness, and ability to perform daily activities. It involves caring for your physical body. Seek to maintain a healthy lifestyle through regular exercise, balanced nutrition, adequate rest, avoiding the ingestion of toxic or harmful substances (e.g. smoking, drugs, or excessive alcohol), and obtaining necessary medical exams and care through your health care providers.
Take some time to reflect on the current state of the foregoing described dimensions of your life. Do you engage in any of the suggested ways to help you to nourish and support each dimension? Are any of these dimensions currently causing you stress, anxiety, or that limit or contribute to an imbalance in the other dimensions of your life?
* This article was prepared, in part, from information obtained through specific queries using CoPilot, January 11, 2025, as modified by the author.
Emotional: This dimension involves the ability to understand, express, and manage emotions. It includes emotional intelligence, resilience, and mental health. Take time to understand and process your emotions. Try practicing mindfulness and relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or journally to manage stress and anxiety, as well as seeking support from friends, family, or a therapist when needed.
Social: This involves relationships and interactions with others. It includes communication skills, social support, and the ability to form and maintain healthy relationships. Engage in social activities and seek to build and maintain healthy relationships with others, including providing loving and selfless acts of compassion, kindness, and service to others in need. Surround yourself with supportive, positive, and nurturing people.
Intellectual: This dimension involves cognitive abilities, learning, and intellectual growth. It includes critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. Keep your mind active by learning new things, reading, and engaging in meaningful conversations.
Spiritual: This involves a sense of purpose, meaning, and connection to a metaphysical reality that transcends you. It includes beliefs, values, and practices that provide you with a sense of inner peace, purpose, meaning, self-actualization, and fulfillment. Engage in practices that deepen your spiritual connection, such as prayer, reading, listening, and viewing spiritual reasources, self-reflection, meditation, contemplation, or attending religious services.
Occupational: This dimension involves seeking satisfaction and fulfillment in one's vocation, work, career, or hobbies. Strive to maintain a work-life balance, professional development, and a sense of purpose and satisfaction in the performance of your work or other assigned or assumed responsibilities.
Environmental: This involves the impact of one's surroundings and living conditions on one's well-being. Create a comfortable and soothing environment. Surround yourself with things that bring you joy, such as plants, art, or calming music. Seek a lifestyle of simplicity, minimize waste, spend time in nature and creating green spaces, and stay informed about environmental issues such as the importance of sustainability.
For example, if you are experiencing physical pain, this will surely affect the other dimensions of your life. When that occurs, then besides seeking to minimize your physical pain or limiting your physical activities, you may also seek to compensate by giving more emphasis to your spiritual and social dimensions through the support and comfort of spiritual practices, and from others while you are limited by your physical condition. At the same time, you may need to adjust practicing elements of your occupational dimension until such time as you improve or recover from your physical limitations. The goal is to try to maintain an overall well-being and flourishing in your life given your current situation.
From a Christian perspective you are never alone, but are supported by the love, presence, power, comfort, guidance, and support of the indwelling Holy Spirit, We are called to have faith that "nothing [is] impossible for God" (Luke 1:37). We are also called to "Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).