Welcome to the first entry of Window Into Wellness—a glimpse into the world of well-being! My hope is that by sharing some insights with you and, in turn, receiving your feedback, we can all achieve greater balance both personally and professionally and lead more fulfilling, productive lives.
During my 30+-year career in Human Resources in Corporate America, I have coached and counseled individuals—from front-line employees to senior-level executives—about a wide range of life and work issues. As a wife and mother, I learned first-hand how difficult it is to manage a full-time career, raise a family, and maintain a healthy lifestyle all at the same time.
However, it took a medical crisis in my life to realize the true gifts that life offers. Looking back over the past few years, the brain tumor—and subsequent five surgeries—became the turning point for me to fully recognize how fortunate I truly was. Though I didn’t heed the wake-up call right away, I began to realize the richness and support in my life—from my husband and children, my staff and colleagues at the office, and my long-time friends. All of them had unique gifts to share—whether it came in the form of sympathy, prayer, information, food, transportation, or simply conversation. I was truly blessed to have such a strong network of support to help me through the crisis.
But the real gift was that I had an opportunity…a new-found opportunity to help assist and heal others as they encounter their own life challenges. My education, career, and life experiences had led me to the point that I was given a gift—a choice about how to spend the rest of my life. I could continue to bemoan the fact that this tumor had invaded my body, or I could choose to make a difference and help bring a sense of well-being to others. By doing so, my hope is that I will bring greater well-being to myself as well.
So whether it’s a loss of a job, the death of a family member, or a chronic health condition, we can acknowledge the pain and suffering and view the situation as an opportunity. Even knowing that death awaits all of us, we have choices. We can adopt new perspectives, re-invent ourselves, and get ourselves ‘unstuck.’ We owe it to ourselves and to our loved ones to live our lives in a way that is personally meaningful and fulfilling.
Life gives us gifts every day…we just need to recognize them.
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