Who put a $100 bill in my sports bra???

My goal for this blog post is to dispel a common myth related to the point of “wellness.” You might think, “I know all about wellness; eat well and exercise, right?” WRONG!

I am not going to go off the deep end and get all philosophical on you here, but being “well” is incredibly holistic requiring a much deeper understanding and assessment of our entire life.

Think about a time in your life when you felt your very best….. who was around? What were you doing? What or who supported you? What was contributed to you feeling your best?

Often, when I ask my wellness members this question, their answer usually includes school: high school, middle school, or college. Or I hear, “before my kids were born” or “before I had a full time career.”


Why is this? Well, let’s think about life as a “traditional student:”

• Financial freedom (heck, we left that crazy business to our parents)

• Super Networked: we hung with our friends every day, benefited from external adult support though guidance counselors, school nurses, our teachers; and we had a plethora of community involvement opportunities.

•Family: most of us lived with them until college, and when we went to college we benefited from our college “family.”

• Personal Development: we used our creative minds in art, music, dance, or band. We participated in sports, chess, or key club.
Now, let’s flash forward to life as an “Adult” or as our parents liked to tell us, “Welcome to the Real World”

•Financial FREAK OUTS: We base most of our decisions on the green stuff $$$ “how much will the job pay me? How much is the house? I can’t quit the job I despise, I have to pay for the mortgage that I can’t really afford….I can’t work less and spend more time with my family, how will I pay for my $400/mo car payment?? I don’t have time to visit my Mom, I am working a 2nd job to stay ‘afloat.’ I can’t afford to eat healthy…I can’t afford to take a dance class…

•Super Lame: We have limited time to spend with our friends, we work too much. We hate our co-workers and our bosses don’t want to mentor us, they just want to make our lives miserable. Community?? Who has time to commit to the community?

•Family?? Say What? Who has time? “I don’t have time to sit down and eat dinner with my family… my kids spend 4 hours on the computer each night while I work” “heck, I definitely don’t have time to visit my parents…let alone my grandmother!”

• Personal Development: “what the heck is personal development?? I don’t’ have time for myself…it’s a waste of time to invest in fun.”

Get my point?

Okay, now that might be a little extreme, and I believe that Gen Y will generate real change in the world-life balance category. But, as far as balance and wellness is concerned, if we sit back and think about the best times in our lives, we will find that more than nutrition and exercise contributed!

If our finances are out of control, keeping us up at night, and robbing our sanity, how can we expect to focus on getting in better shape? If we hate our jobs and feel that we chose the wrong career, how can we focus on optimal nutrition? If we don’t let loose and relax, have fun, and invest in our own fun and personal development, how can we expect to feel great?

I created and attached a graph of the essential components of optimal wellness. When one area is out of whack, we jeopardize another area. When we invest in improving one area, we reap benefits in all other areas.

So yes, the $100 dollar bill belongs in your sports bra….healthy finances has everything to do with wellness!