I recently had a conversation with a friend who had experienced a life-changing heart incident. Our kids are roughly the same age and often connect for play dates and they are active in our community. This one resonated with me because we are so similar in age and demographic, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. This experience was a wakeup call for him. He knew he wasn’t taking great care of himself, but thought he would be fine and it was just a period of stress and busyness. Life had gotten too busy, and rather than slowing down, he was working too hard, not eating well, and pushing it daily. His heart scare caused him to rethink his priorities and to focus on wellness.
After getting home from the hospital, he took some time to recover, the family needed the recovery time too. It was a forced chance to slow down, get some rest, and recalibrate. A week after getting home from the hospital, he was feeling better than ever, was eating better, taking time with family, and already making changes in his business to accommodate a better quality of life with a focus on wellness. If only we could get this recalibration without the major life event.
I think this is a story that so many of us can relate to, either because we have experienced it or know someone who has. So often, people are willing to work incredibly hard to be successful. Often this will include long hours, missed important time with loved ones. And yet throughout this, there is an expectation that wellness will always be there and will always come along. It’s only when it is not there that it becomes such a significant priority.
There is a classic quote that really hits home for this one. “When you have your health, you have a thousand wishes, when you don’t you only have one.”
My friend’s heart incident was a wake-up call for him to prioritize wellness in his life. It made him realize that he had been neglecting his physical, mental, and emotional health, and that he needed to make changes to his lifestyle and mindset. Maybe by reading this story, you can think of a couple of things in your life that you can do to shift the focus towards better health and wellness.
Maybe you can use this story as your calibration without the major life event. #workplacewellness
