What Blocks Your Wellness Vitality?

Vitality Blockers

Vitality emerges naturally as we nurture a mindset of living fully, and when potential wellness obstacles (or blockers) are removed.  The following vitality blockers can prevent you from experiencing genuine vitality and from living fully.  Dr. Norman Shealy, M.D. and Caroline Myss say in their book The Creation of Health that people can accelerate illness when one or more of the following eight dysfunctional patterns are present:

1. The presence of unresolved or deeply consuming emotional, psychological, or spiritual stress in our life. Holding a grudge, unresolved grief or anger, unexpressed feelings, resentments, injustices, abuse, and/or neglect can all stop us from experiencing vitality.
2. The inability to give or receive love. We all have the need to both receive and to give love.  When either of these is blocked we “set ourselves up” for illness.  Since these are “needs” this means that without fulfillment, at some level, we will get sick.
3. Lack of humor and the inability to distinguish serious concerns from the lesser issues of life. It’s been said that the most happy people are ones who “don’t sweat the small stuff” in life and who believe that everything is “small stuff.”  We need to recognize that human behavior can be absurd, and instead of getting angry at it, allow our humor to find it amusing.
4. How effectively we exercise the power of choice and exercise positive influence over the movement and activities of our lives. So often we don’t recognize that we do have the power of choice; we have options.  I am always amazed at the number of intelligent persons who simply can’t accept this notion.  If we don’t have options, if we don’t have choices, then we are all trapped.
5. How well a person has attended to the needs of the physical body itself, i.e., nutrition, exercise, genetic makeup, and proper use of drugs or alcohol. We can misuse our body only so long before it gives us rather clear and unpleasant signals that all is not well.
6. How we deal with the “existential vacuum” that accompanies the absence or loss of meaning in our life. Maturing adult males, especially those who formerly held positions of responsibility or personal status that generated above-average success, are particularly vulnerable here.
7. The characteristics of people who become ill because of a tendency toward denial or circumstances or events that must be changed. Change is the watchword of the universe.  All things must and do change; we must also change. Unfortunately some of us cannot change ourselves; we simply let circumstances make decisions for us.  This ensures pain and suffering, if not for us, then for others. 

I’ve e experienced all seven of these vitality blockers over my life course so far – and there are probably more “blocking incidents” to come.   But I’ve found that simply ( and I don’t mean to imply easy) being aware that blockers infect me, as they do all of us, allows me a spiritual respite, a little pause in life, that gives me the space to “take stock” of what’s happening to me.  This little pause, perhaps accented by a short prayer, sparks the inner moment of hope trust, and even courage enough to proceed in peace. 

Want to learn more about wellness?  Check out this book and other resources.

 Until next time, stay light and be bright in grace,

 Richard P. Johnson, PhD