NEWS

Well Being Part Two

It is not enough to demonstrate well meaning intentions, strategies, methodologies and theories that can be taught to people that constitutes ‘job done.’ This is in effect putting a plaster on a gapping wound, or just ticking the ‘well being’ box. The problem of over extension is a serious one, which has run away with itself. It will require a radical intervention in order for change to occur. There will need to be an openness and receptivity to examining the idea of ‘stopping’. I use this term because it stands abruptly in the face of the relentless momentum we currently see. For many people the idea of ‘stopping’ is reacted to with a mixture of responses ranging from relief, impossibility, fear, confusion, defensiveness, irritation or anger. Stopping points to other potentialities: rest, recuperation, rejuvenation, restoration, silence and stillness, all of which are generally held as ‘covered’ by getting enough sleep, sadly this is not the case. Sleep is but one component of many that the whole organism relies on to maintain balance and efficiency. It is education and meaningful action that is missing. It is therefore paramount that the facilitation and education of this is done by those who themselves live an authentic balance between the resources the body and psychology demands. It requires education that not only teaches but demonstrates that learning to stop does not pose a threat, or lead to the disillusionment of important values like integrity, responsibility and accountability.

Learning what and how to stop, is far reaching in its education and has to address: destructive behaviour, diss-regulated emotions, intrusive compulsive and obsessive thoughts, negative and or destructive attitudes, immaturity, harmful working practices or philosophies, disruptive and or negative working dynamics. In addition to this there is: learning to stop and have lunch, stopping to contemplate and or evaluate, stopping to rest, stopping to breath, stopping to just be silent, stopping to be still. Just the thought of these can elicit conditioned reactions and responses which immediately come to the surface in the form of judgements, concerns, justifications, rationales, comparisons, and expectations.

Developing a healthy sense of internal psychological and physical boundaries is empowering and allows tremendous freedom to begin working and living within our limits, but also where necessary go beyond them safely. This requires a comprehensive education but also intelligent willingness and receptivity to embrace the learning and change required. Paying intellectual lip service will only have short term benefits. Within organisations of all types it requires an honesty, openness and willingness to learn and change at the highest levels of leadership and management. If leaders approach this challenge as a conceptual problem that somehow exists outside of themselves then that organisation will only experience superficial improvements. A meaningful appreciation and commitment to understand, learn and change at the top levels will disseminate much more rigorously and rapidly where then all concerned can benefit. These benefits translate directly into peoples personal and domestic lives and so well being becomes a way of life.

Understanding and embodying what is meant by stopping, requires everyone to look within and to deconstruct, dilute and dissolve the powerful unidentified drives that carry inevitable disaster, in the form of physical and psychological deterioration. Building resilience against these threats, by changing the composition and dynamics of what is external is relative, limited and will only elicit superficial differences. It requires a considered change in attitude and approach which can only be elicited by looking at oneself. It can be challenging, but does carry the possibility of living and working in ways that go beyond our current understanding of efficiency and productivity. The new perspectives gained, offer levels of resilience and efficiency that have not yet been realised through current contemporary work and domestic lifestyles.

In light of these reflections I encourage everyone to embrace the invitation to ‘stop’ and to engage in the exciting possibilities that can be realised and developed when not blocked by denial, fear and impossibility. There are a growing number of individuals and organisations that are beginning to embrace these concerns, to examine what it would mean to ‘stop’ in a realistic and meaningful way and is the central foundation from which I offer my own services.