Overview of Social Wellness
Have you ever imagined that you were the last person on Earth? Or that you were in one of those movies where everything is deserted, and no one is around?
Sometimes we reach our breaking point and just want to be alone. However, this is a little extreme.
Being in relationships can indeed be exhausting and take a toll on our health. We will look at how to change that.
It is possible to create a lifestyle of increased social balance.
In This Article
The Meaning of Social Wellness
To begin, it is important to review the idea of health and wellness. This pertains to all wellness: physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual.
It can be simply seen as follows:
Health – The state we are in currently (noun)
Wellness – The actions taken to gain and maintain better health (verb)
Balance – Key for overall wellness, and within each part of our being
With this information, social wellness is actions taken to increase our overall state of social health.
How Social Fits with Overall Wellness
We take the view that our mindset is one part of our whole-body health.
To set a baseline, it is important to remember that social health is also one part of our being. We view it in close relation to our mindset (thoughts, emotions, actions).
To stay on track, we will consider our thoughts as the force that drives our emotions and actions. Thoughts are also how we filter our emotions.
So where do social aspects come into play?
Although there have been many views established, and science has its basis, it often misses the mark on social wellness.
After almost three decades of coaching and treating in healthcare, it is apparent that our social wellness ties directly into our thoughts and emotions.
While we have seen that actions are derived from our thoughts, it is obvious that emotions play very much into our social health also.
If you have ever had your heart broken or become very angry at someone, the emotions are real and readily tied to another person. We even wish we could turn the emotions off.
This further displays the concept that thoughts and emotions are closely related to actions and are all part of our social health. (More on this later.)
The entire concept can be confusing if over thought, but basically put, our thoughts are a large part of our social situations.
How Socializations Have Changed
For anyone that has been alive through multiple generations, it is obvious that our socializations and methods of communication have drastically changed over time.
We have moved from sending letters to making phone calls, to texting, and now following on social media.
Methods that were once slow and tedious have become immediate and simplified and are still continuously changing.
Technology has created a way for us to move from speaking to only one person, to multiple people, and even to see others face-to-face on a screen for greater interaction.
These concepts have all changed our social dynamics and mindsets significantly.
Just ask anyone who “talks” with multiple friends at the same time via social media or text. This is the new norm for talking although we don’t hear a voice.
What Matters with Social Health
While this information may be common knowledge, it plays a very important role in our social wellness.
It has created the ability for us to reach each other, and share positive thoughts, but it has also caused multiple opportunities for demeaning and deflating ideas to be placed into multiple situations at a time.
The problem is, it’s not possible to only see things that are uplifting and joyful.
Once something is seen or experienced, it cannot be unseen. It enters our mind and becomes a part of our thoughts which lead directly to our emotions.
We are addressing social media, but this process is the same across the board whether it pertains to television, books, or other people.
Our social wellness can be quickly affected by all we see and hear.
How to Identify Your Current Social Health
Just as with our emotional state, it’s important to maintain the view that we should not spend all our time mentally reacting to what takes place in our relationships or in social situations.
That is much easier said than done, unless you have created a space of wellness for your overall mindset: thoughts, emotions, and actions.
First Steps for Social Well-Being
There are two main views to initiate when taking control of our social wellness.
This involves the overall way we currently see our health, and the plan to increase our wellness.
Perspective: How we view things is vital not only to our overall wellness but when intentionally assessing each part.
Proactivity: Getting and staying ahead of our detrimental thoughts is how we gain and maintain our social wellness.
These two actions toward wellness each have many working parts. Simply having the correct mindset is not enough. We must put it into action.
Flip the Script on Social Dependence
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying about sticks and stones. It’s not true. Even if we try to ignore them, words can most definitely hurt us.
What if we change the entire focus of this thought process? Words—as well as actions of others—can be painful. It is time we stop allowing that to drive our social health.
Looking to others for our social wellness is a common mistake we often make. This places us in a posture that is reactive instead of proactive. This truth should be remembered: we cannot control other people.
Therefore, we shouldn’t spend time waiting and hoping that someone will fulfill our needs. We are wasting precious moments in life when we filter our social wellness through the lens of what we receive from others.
Although we’re focusing on getting along with others, our social interactions with family are also important. Check out this article on family wellness that shows how to increase health while teaching the right tools.
Identify Barriers to Social Wellness
Just as with the initiation of a correct thought process about dependence on others, it is important to recognize any areas in which we are practicing this incorrect way of thinking.
Some common barriers toward our social wellness are as follows:
- Relying on others for our happiness
- Feeling like others complete us
- Looking for comments or responses to set the tone for our self-worth
- Dishonesty about how much other people affect our mindset
- Hindering our social health based on quick decisions for our mind or body
Realizing that we have an incorrect perspective is the first step in being able to change it.
We will address methods to increase wellness as we move forward.
Cultivating Social Wellness
Our social view for happiness is often based on a question such as, “What do I need from others to be socially fulfilled?”
This often leads to a missed concept of the main vein of our social wellness: “How can I make a positive change to my own social health?”
Being proactive in our own health—instead of depending on others to fulfill us— is not selfish but wise.
Getting ahead is important but often viewed in the wrong way.
Correct View of Social Well-being
Too often we are careful to spend social time with people we feel will be a good choice or give us what we desire, but it often is not the case.
It is important for us to experience relationships, but not at the cost of our social wellness. One concept to consider is the negative and positive effects of social media.
We should also consider that taking control of our own thoughts and actions promotes personal growth.
We have discussed a variety of situations and thought processes that can rob us of our well-being.
Also, we learned that raising awareness of our current state and being proactive is vital to maintaining overall wellness.
Let’s continue this mindset by identifying some concepts that are based on healthy perspective, not just specific steps to take for social wellness.
To further explain, each of us is currently in a different area of our health.
By naming specific actions that are suggested, it is easy to lose the importance of individual perspective.
Perspective is more functional in our personal growth if it pertains directly to our situation.
7 Ideas to Create Social Wellness
As was discussed with emotional wellness, there is great opportunity to promote growth socially by becoming more in tune to our spiritual well-being.
This is because with an increase in spiritual health, we create space for characteristics that are healthy and consistent vs. our emotions which are temporary and readily create turmoil.
This concept also encourages greater balance throughout our whole being which is always the preferred approach.
The following views improve conviction in our interactions and in turn model excellent traits that will often be reciprocated by others.
It is better to show others how we would like to be treated than tell them and get upset if they don’t meet our expectations.
This is the foundation of the “Golden Rule.”
Increasing these traits can promote social wellness:
Supportive: Having a mindset for supporting others is a great way to promote security in our social situations. It allows room for error in a safe manner.
Authentic: Beginning and maintaining all interactions in an authentic way is imperative to maintaining the integrity of the situation. When we act or pretend to be someone we’re not, or claim to want other things, it creates a dynamic of dishonesty.
Intentional: Staying intentional in a social situation creates specific thoughts and movements that can be more carefully measured than if we are erratic and spontaneous.
A side note here, while spontaneity is fun and should be a part of our social interactions at times, intent allows more understanding which can be helpful in multiple circumstances.
Appreciative: Interacting in our social situations with sincere appreciation promotes gratitude in what we experience and toward others. This in turn creates a deeper spiritual connection which allows for personal growth.
Like-minded: While each person we interact with doesn’t need to see things the same way we do, it is important to remain aware of the mindsets of others. A detrimental situation can drag us down quickly and give us a defeated social experience.
Side note: this is especially important while we are laying foundation for social wellness; however, once we become more versed in understanding our thought processes, we can branch out to a variety of situations and even teach or assist others.
Patient: This is a virtue that is rooted in deep spiritual connection. Patience is imperative in many realms of our social health and is key to maintaining balance.
Encouraging: Spreading encouragement encompasses the concept that we can make a difference. This does not cost anything but can change the outlook or actions of other people. It can make a lasting impact.
In addition to these ideas that promote better perspective and allow us to remain proactive with social wellness, the one specific action step that we will talk about is communication.
This concept is vital in all aspects of social health, and good communication should be readily practiced.
View this article for a list of relationship needs that help promote social wellness.
Balance Promotes Wellness
One outlook that brings increased health is focusing on the needs of others rather than solely on our own desires. This can bring fulfillment and helps to create a better outlook for our overall wellness.
To be clear, this falls within the role of compassion, not attempting to determine a mindset for others.
Giving back is one method that we should practice regularly which creates less focus on our own desires and allows us to incorporate unselfish actions.
A warning here, when our focus is postured for others, it is imperative to maintain balance.
Even though unintentional, we can easily be stripped bare. People can’t possibly realize how many others are taking from us at exactly that same time.
We are responsible for our own social wellness and must maintain a balance by realizing when to say, “No thanks.”
This is incredibly hard for some, but if ignored, it can create huge deficits in many areas of our overall wellness.
When this happens, we are no longer being proactive in our situation which can readily produce burn out.
As always, balance is key.
Final Thoughts About Social Wellness
We have addressed the importance of social well-being and reviewed that wellness consists of actions steps to gain and maintain greater social health.
Over time, the landscape of social situations has changed drastically, but one concept remains the same; how we approach and handle interactions with others directly affects us.
We discussed how to recognize those areas and circumstances that may be detrimental to our social wellness and highlighted the importance of change.
In addition, we addressed an overview of ideas that are a great model for how we treat others to improve our social well-being. This can create a healthier situation in return.
Interacting in a socially healthy manner can ignite responses that allows us to be the change agent for our own social wellness, as well as a positive example to others.