Emotional Wellness is more than just handling stress. It also involves being attentive to your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, whether positive or negative.
Emotional Wellness implies the ability to:
- Be aware of and accept our feelings, rather than deny them
- Have an optimistic approach to life
- Express feelings freely and manage feelings effectively
- Express emotions appropriately
- Adjust to change
- Cope with stress in a healthy way
- Enjoy life despite its occasional disappointments and frustrations
If you are a person engaged in the process of emotional wellness, you are willing and able to:
- Arrive at personal choices and decisions based upon the synthesis of feelings, thoughts, philosophies, and behavior.
- Live and work independently while realizing the importance of seeking and appreciating the support and assistance of others.
- Form interdependent relationships with others based upon a foundation of mutual commitment, trust and respect.
- Take on challenges, take risks, and recognize conflict as being potentially healthy.
- Manage your life in personally rewarding ways, and taking responsibility for your actions.
The Path to Emotional Wellness
The path to emotional wellness may involve:
- Awareness of thoughts and feelings
- Using a positive attitude
- Seeking support and expressing emotions in a suitable manner
- Learning time management skills
- Setting priorities
- Accepting mistakes and learning from them
- Maintaining life balance
The path may also involve seeking out support from a mental health professional when needed and gathering information in order to make informed value decisions.
Are you engaged in the process of emotional wellness?
Evaluate your own emotional wellness with this brief quiz.
- Am I able to maintain a balance of work, family, friends, and other obligations?
- Do I have ways to reduce stress in my life?
- Am I able to make decisions with a minimum of stress and worry?
- Am I able to set priorities?
If you answered "No" to any of the questions, it may indicate an area where you need to improve the state of your emotional wellness.