Life is a beautiful journey.....

Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas. How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

Wow, looking back to Unit 3, I would say that I feel I have grown physically and spiritually, but psychologically I feel I have taken a step back. In Unit 3, I scored my physical well-being about a 5, my spiritual well-being about a 6, and my psychological well-being about an 8. Today, I would score myself spiritually 6 (the same as Unit 3) because I am still trying to discover what it is I believe in and what all of it means to me on a more personal level. I do practice meditation and I feel that connects me on a spiritual level, but I have so many questions I have yet to answer that I do not feel comfortable scoring myself any higher. I would score myself physically an 8, which is quite the improvement!! I have been pushing myself more than I have in a long time. Fitness has always been important to me, but I sort of got in a slump due to an illness and lost some motivation for a short time. My health has been improving, so I have been back at it again. Psychologically my wellness would be a 7, whereas it was an 8 in Unit 3. I think with everything going on in my life I have mentally and emotionally weathered it all to the best of my abilities, but I tend to hold in my feelings which has caused some resentment and stress. This is a time in my life where the Loving Kindness and Subtle mind exercises will come in handy. I know that we can only improve ourselves and try our best to bring out the best in others, but ultimately it is on the other person to be a good person; we cannot change who they are or who they choose to be. That is the dilemma I am in and it has left me feeling like maybe I am too accepting of hurtful things and behaviors and I have allowed these things to weigh on my mind for too long. I feel once I am able to connect what it is I am holding onto and why I tend to just "deal" with things instead of being more proactive about expressing how it makes me feel, I will be able to score myself higher.

Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.

My goals for Unit 3 were:

Met and will continue to improve: My goal for physical well-being was to continue to maintain a healthy quality of life that ensures myself and my family the ability to get through daily activities without any undue fatigue or physical stress. I want to continue to recognize that all my behaviors have a significant impact on my wellness and that continuing healthy habits such as a balanced diet, exercise, etc. and avoiding destructive habits will lead to optimal physical well-being.

Getting there and will continue to improve: My goal for spiritual well-being is to keep a perfect balance of peace and harmony in my life to lead to optimal spiritual well-being. I feel it is important for me to really figure out what it is I truly believe and what the belief means to me spiritually in order for me to have confirmation that my beliefs are accurate and to then translate my beliefs into action and love.

A work in progress, but I am on my way to achieving my goals:My goal for psychological well-being is to continue to focus on all the positive things in life and remember to continuously create positive relationships, emotions, etc. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember to be positive, especially when things are not always going the way you planned, but remembering that life itself is a blessing will lead to optimal psychological well-being.

Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain

I continue to practice Yoga and Pilates. I do love to do kickboxing, but have not found a class in my area. I decided to buy Hip Hop Abs which incorporates dance and it has been really fun to do. I have implemented that program into my weekly workout. I took a class on time management, so I feel I have excelled in that activity.  The class also taught me to say "No" instead of trying to jam everyone's  needs in before focusing on what really needs to be done at the moment. I guess I just got to the point I was exhausted and tired of being taken advantage of. Learning how to better manage my time and plan the important parts of my day that need to be done has taught me that I am capable of having a stress-free day! I still love to write poetry and short stories and I do not think that will ever change. I learned to allot more quality time for myself, so I have no excuses not to do the things I enjoy the most. My kids have always been my biggest focus and I feel since making all these personal improvements, I have been able to be a better mother instead of one that was constantly on the go. 

Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

I have really taken a lot from this course. I did discover that I did not know myself quite as well as I thought I did, but overall I feel I am heading in the right direction. The most rewarding from this entire experience was finding myself again. Somehow over time I had lost touch with who I was and where I needed to be. I did not really assess myself the way this course has taught me too. I am thankful for this course because it really opened my eyes to the things I really never took into consideration for health and wellness. I am keeping track of my progress on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis to stay on track and make sure I meet and exceed all of my goals. The most difficult part for me in this course was facing the reality that I am not comfortable with feelings and emotions. I felt extremely vulnerable and out of my comfort zone, but overall I feel it has made me a stronger person. I tend to be a guarded person because of the things I have gone through, so opening up was very difficult for me. I have come to realize I cannot blame anyone else for the things that have plagued my life over the years. I have to remember that we all have a past and things that are beyond our control, but that does not define who we are and what we plan to be. I have always been a very optimistic person despite any hardships, so I want to continue to focus on that positive energy. I plan to revisit all of the exercises we have learned in this course and really figure out which ones are the best for me.I am consistently working on myself and find it important to consistently practice in order to improve my ability to assist others. I want to be able to relate to my patients on a personal level so I can share my struggles and triumphs with them on their journey.