Monday, July 25, 2011

Wellness Wednesday: {Life Task 2: Self Direction}

Welcome back to Wellness Wednesday! If you haven't read the rest of the series, you can catch up on the posts here:
Wellness Wednesday: {An Introduction}
Wellness Wednesday: {An Introduction pt. 2}
Wellness Wednesday: {The Wheel of Wellness Part 1}
Wellness Wednesday: {The Wheel of Wellness Part 2}
Wellness Wednesday: {Life Task 1: Spirituality}




For those of you who have read some of the posts, you might recall that I'm using the idea of the Wheel of Wellness to visually represent wellness for the individual.




Last week I discussed the first Life Task, Spirituality. Today I'll start with the 2nd Life Task: Self Direction.

Myers, Sweeney, & Witmer define Self Direction the following way:
"The process by which one directs, controls, manages the self in ways that are self-enhancing, within societal norms, through the following 12 subtasks". 

If you click on the picture above, you can find the 12 subtasks in the spokes of the wheel. These life tasks are about how you are living within the world, and includes things like realistic beliefs, stress management, emotional awareness and coping, and self care. I find that a few of these subtasks are often overlooked when it comes to defining wellness, and that is part of the reason why I love the concept of this Wheel. 

These 12 life tasks are positive, healthy traits of an individual that help lead to a decrease in stress and an increase in the resiliency of that person. Resiliency, of course, is important in helping an individual survive and come back from a difficulty in life. 

I'll be talking through the next 12 subtasks individually, so I don't want to go into too much detail in this post. 

A few things to think about:
1. What's one of the most surprising of the 12 subtasks under self direction?
2. Rank the order you believe for yourself from healthiest to least healthy. Is this ranking surprising to you?
3. How do you think your health (or lack there of) in one of these subtasks changes the wellness level of the other subtasks?


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