Are you missing one of its essential parts?
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Don’t we all want balance in life?
Just out of curiosity, I Googled, “How do I balance my life?” Not wanting to spend the rest of my life reading even a fraction of the search results, I was satisfied just to know that the return got me 2,240,000,000 results! That means that there are over 2 and a quarter billion places on the internet where I can find the “answer” to how to get balance in my life… or so someone thinks.
Why is this so important? Why do we have so many questions about it? Is life so complicated that most, if not all, of us are tipping one way or another and need to find a way to get centered? If I had to give a short answer to this question it would be probably, at least most of us.
For the record, this article is in no way an attempt at giving a magical answer to this question.
Defining the tripod on which we balance
For centuries, it seems that man has felt that the physical and mental wellbeing were very separate and needed to be treated as such. In fact, unless someone exhibited signs of extreme mental illness, at least as defined by society and medicine of the day, any stresses on the mental and emotional wellbeing of the individual were expected to be dealt with before simply moving on. The effects on the physical person were not seen or appreciated. In other words, if a person exhibited signs of being “insane”, “crazy”, or what in some particular societies may even be aligned with being possessed by evil spirits, he or she was treated as an outcast; the physical health being a totally different and unrelated concern. Such persons were, when identified, institutionalized when possible.
Change comes to mental health.
Although credited as the “Father of Modern Psychology”, Sigmund Freud was actually a neurologist with a cocaine addiction and some rather strange theories about human behavior, many of which are discounted by mental health professionals today. However, he did bring the acceptance of treating mental health as a medical condition into the public eye as far back as the late 19th century. While it would take time, people were finally seeing that what had once been seen as “crazy” or “insane” people, were often simply the very people living in their neighborhoods who suffered from an illness that could not be seen. They may even be members of their own families.
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The connection of physical and mental health was finally making its way into acceptance, although even one hundred years later, there would be many who would struggle with this concept. Still, there was a missing piece.
“Physical, emotional, and mental health needs are all interconnected” Conor Lamb
Most of us see mental and emotional health as being closely connected and I would say that I agree with that. But what about spiritual health? Does a person’s religion, or even a lack of one, fit into his or her well-being? I dare say it does!
Many people, when approached with the idea that medical science, can coexist with religion, shrink back as if you suggested that a Democratic presidential candidate could select a Republican running mate and expect to win! (For the record, John Adams, the second President of the United States was not of the same party as his Vice-President, Thomas Jefferson. However, times were different.) The truth is the idea that science and religion can be mutually supportive of one another is an argument made by many scientists of various faiths. It is not, however, something that we will discuss in depth here.
What we will explore on the other hand, is that religion or faith in general plays as much a part in the overall health and well-being of an individual as do the physical and mental conditions of that same person. Let’s look at how important the health-care system has seen spiritual care as a part of its overall treatment of its patients in recent years:
There are just over 6000 hospitals in the United States at the time of this writing.
In those hospitals, there are approximately 7100 employed chaplains. This does not include the many volunteer chaplains, which would probably at least double this number.
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This tells me that providing people who are healing from physical and/or mental health confrontations or threats with a connection to the faith practice of their choosing has an immense impact on mood, mental state, and even physical healing. One does not have to believe in the doctrine(s) of any or all religions to see that those who have a strong connection to a faith system are more balanced in their overall wellness.
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What happens when things get out of balance?
I used to work out at a gym with a few guys who spent all of their time working on their upper bodies. As a result, they had massive arms and chests, but legs that looked like they belonged on a twelve-year-old girl.
By the same token, I have also gone to school with people who studied non-stop for exams in one class, only to neglect others, almost to the point of failure.
“You can’t have too much of everything, you must have a balance, that’s very important.”-Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Maintaining your health is not new. Eating right, getting enough sleep and exercise, and staying on top of any medical issues; are all things that anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the last fifty years knows. Unfortunately, the addition of being aware of mental and emotional health usually comes up only when a crisis arises or when a person’s own behavior is challenged or brought into question. This, however, should never be the case! Mental health is as important as physical health even in a person who is in prime condition.
Leaving us with spiritual health, this is the trickiest one. What is “spiritual health”? Can it even be defined? In my opinion, good spiritual health is first identifying your own faith or religious beliefs and being sure that you are free to express and practice them as you wish. Is it praying? Is it meditating? Reading religious text? Worshiping with fellow believers? You may even say, “I don’t have any religious beliefs. I am an atheist. If that is the case, your faith system relies only on you, and you should be free to express and fulfill that just as openly as the devout believer in any other system of worship. Whatever the case, identifying it and keeping it healthy is crucial.
Having a balance of all three of these factors is paramount to balanced health. If you are lacking in any of these, be honest with yourself about what you are doing to address it and where you need to turn to get healthy. Ask yourself some questions:
How is my physical health?
How do I know the answer to the above question?
Is my mental/emotional health balanced and stable? Could it be better?
If it is not where it should be, what steps should I take to get it there?
How do I identify my faith or religious beliefs?
Do I give my faith and spiritual life adequate time and resources? What are they?
The writing found in Living Faith by James M. Dakis is mostly that of Christian, faith-based content. I strongly encourage the comments and views of anyone who read it and invite you to follow and subscribe for any further content. It is also helpful if you give me suggestions for anything that you would like to see in the future!