Optimum health is not just the absence of disease but the presence of wellness in mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and social area. Some would also include financial health." Optimum health is essential at all levels, from the individual to the society we live in to the environment around us. We have to start thinking of wealth not just in terms of possession of money and properties but also the possession of mental, emotional, physical, social and spiritual well-being.
Mental Health:
The truth is mind is the forerunner of all states. With a proper mindset, a poor man can still be happy. Conversely, if the mindset is not right, no matter how much material possessions you may have, have you may still be a very unhappy person. Thus, Gandhi said "The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not enough for even a single person's greed." So a healthy mind is one that possesses a mindset than can lead to happiness and contentment with self and the world around us. It provides clarity of thoughts, good insight and the ability to see things through an unbiased mind. To be able to see things through an unbiased mind is not small feat. It is extremely difficult to note or observe the unfolding of events and phenomena without judging. We habitually associate emotions or feelings to events, and allow such emotions to direct our actions. Our likes for certain things and dislikes for others are closely associated with our emotions.
Emotional Health:
It is our emotions that lead us to act impulsively at times. Thus a high level of self-awareness in this area is extremely useful. In fact, it is essential to our well-being. After all, things and relationships that may take us years to build can be destroyed in a moment of anger. There are positive and negative emotions. Positive emotions such as love, compassions and joy should be cultivated, while negative emotions such as fear, anger and hate need to be eradicated at times, it may seem that we have not control over our emotions. This is not true. The truth is how well we manage our emotions depends on how aware we are of our emotions, particularly on the arising of our emotions. The earlier we are able the better we can manage them.
More and more researches are showing that our well-being is closely linked to our emotional and mental health. Our body's immune system is generally enhanced by positive mental outlook and emotion.
Conversely, it is depressed by negative mental and emotional states. Thus, stress, worry, anger and fear are some states that may lead to physical illness such as hypertension, cardiac diseases, peptic ulcers, depression and a host of other ailments.
Physical Health
To maintain and optimum physical well-being, therefore requires us to focus not only on our body but also our mind and emotions. On a physical level, our body can be kept healthy adequate sleep and rest, proper nutrition, regular exercises and a healthy environment that is free from pollution.
Spiritual Health:
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Throughout the ages, wise men have consistently informed and taught us that we are essentially spiritual beings. Although medical science has not been able to reveals to us our spiritual nature, there is much indirect evidence that we would be foolish to ignore. Stories from people who had gone through a near death experience (NDE), or dying people with heightened nearing death awareness, or simply a cure from an "incurable disease" all suggest that there is more to life than just the physical state.
Major religions of the world all based their teachings on the belief that we are essentially spiritual being. According to these teachings, our physical existence is secondary. While it may be true that we should focus our life more on our spiritual nature than our physical nature, it would be difficult for the majority of people to do so , at least not immediately. Things cannot change overnight. Mindset, however, can, and that is perhaps the best place to start.
Financial Health
However, on a more mundane level, most people are still stuck on how to survive from day to day, where to get the next cheque to pay for the house installment, so on and so forth.
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