Wellbeing | Winston-Salem, NC

A group of Wake Foresters gathered over dinner in Winston-Salem, NC on May 15, 2019 to discuss Wellbeing.

Overview and highlights of our Call to Conversation:

• We began by sharing stories of colleagues, friends, and family who exemplify wellbeing through their commitment to maintaining healthy habits, joyful relationships, and a sense of purpose. Inevitably, these examples are all something we aspire to! After sharing, we continued to discuss wellbeing, including (but not limited to!) the following themes and points:
  • Many of the people in our lives who practice wellbeing are “others-focused,” and there is plenty of evidence pointing to the health benefits of getting outside of our own minds and focusing on others.
  • At the same time, a few examples were shared of people who are able to be “others-focused” because they make time for themselves and stick to their list of non-negotiables.
  • We discussed two major barriers to wellbeing–time and social norms. Is there truly not enough time in the day? Or are we worried that prioritizing ourselves will be seen as selfish?
  • Social connections emerged as an important aspect of wellbeing for us. It was moving to hear stories of friends who became family and how important it is to our wellbeing to be a part of a community.
  • A dilemma that surfaced towards the end of our conversation was, “how do we reconcile feelings of contentment with achieving the standards of wellbeing evident in the examples we shared and that we aspire to?” In response, we considered that contentment is not synonymous with complacency.