Happiness, Well Being, and Truthfulness

Lisa with her wonderful and very patient husband, Pete....holding our Georgia Jewel race awards!

Well, to be honest, I am not a good blogger. I just now opened my blog to see that it haven't had a new entry since 2010. I had even forgotten my password and had to have it sent to me! The truth is, my blog makes me feel guilty. I know I need to keep it current and yet, why oh why, can't I seem to do it? Am I lazy? Am I too busy? Do I not have enough to write about? Well, the answer is yes, yes, and yes. I tend to laziness if left to my own devices; I have a schedule that keeps me hoppin' all day long; I have more than enough topics to write about, and plenty of excuses why I don't do it! It's my personal mystery, but I saw something written the other day that made me stop and take notice. It said, very simply, that "Happiness is fleeting. Well being is sustained physical, emotional, and social health." Without knowing exactly how that fit into my laziness/procrastination/avoidance of things that I should (but often don't do), I knew it somehow resonated with me. And, possibly, with you.

How often do we hear that we need to strive for happiness? Just this month my daily newspaper is running a series of articles highlighting "the happiest woman alive." At first it seemed silly to me, but as I read through the articles, I realized that they just as easily could have written about the woman with the most "well being!" The happiest woman according to the USA today has all of the ingredients of the words I quoted above about happiness versus well being. She has a good job that she loves, she is happily married, she has a network of good friends, and she exercises and keeps her weight in check.

Now how does this play into my bad blogging? I (like most real people) can't claim to be the happiest woman alive! I strive to do the right things, eat like I should, exercise, see my friends, work hard at my job, and keep the lovely peace with my husband and kids. Do I do it? Am I a balanced, "well" person? Well, yes and no. I DO eat well and exercise a lot (the easier part for me because I always have....an easy habit), but I DON'T see my friends enough, I DON'T always stay on top of my schedule, my marriage, my kids, my work, or my life! And it makes me feel disappointed in myself.

My clients strive for the same things that I do. They may not have the eating right/exercise thing down perfectly, but many of them are amazing professional people with so many things right in their lives! They have wonderful families and are active in church and have great friends, and yet they feel disappointed in themselves for not being thin enough, or healthy enough, or not eating right. They beat themselves up if they miss a scheduled day of exercise or they falter and eat a huge piece of cake (or the whole thing!)

My point is we ALL want the same thing: to be happy. But happiness can be fleeting; it comes and goes and comes back again and then, like the leaves I see falling outside, goes again. To have true well being.....that's what gets us through this life in tact! But to expect perfection in balance and wellness is a lost cause. It is for me, anyway. I may not blog again until 2012, but the best I can do is to start to examine why I procrastinate and maybe, just maybe, I'll find a way to be better at it. Maybe I won't. But the point is, I don't expect perfection from my clients; I just expect them to try and reach whatever goals they have, but to cut themselves a little slack when the route is curved and winding! Life is too short and wonderful to carry constant guilt and self disappointment.

My parting words, and I mean them from the bottom of my heart: Be kind to yourself, be gentle, be loving, and.....be well! :)