Have you noticed the new energy and focus surrounding the concept of wellness? We see it in the headlines, and it is getting that buzzed-about quality. Sometimes when important concepts attract so much attention, I am concerned that the public begins to tune it out due to overexposure.
I am here to tell you, we should not tune out the concept of wellness, either for ourselves or for those around us in personal lives or work lives.
What does wellness mean? If I don’t have the flu, does that mean I am well? If I am feeling unmotivated, does that make me unwell?
Yes and no.
In short, “w
ellness” is being free from a physical illness, and also relates to how we take care of ourselves. This concept is about the intentional behaviors and choices we make that either help us feel fulfilled, or lead us to feel stressed or unmotivated, and include best practices in sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress reduction, financial management, family and personal relationships, and being mindful of emotions.
This semester’s newsletter message is focused on wellness as I want you to be aware of and have access to all that Penn offers. We have strategic initiatives across several departments such as Finance, Human Resources, University Life, Student Health, among others (not to mention the best health system in the world). While tactically varied, these initiatives all share a common goal of fostering discussion, collaboration, problem-solving, and idea sharing about how best to take care of ourselves, and seek to take care of others.
This is no simple task; as we serve 20,000 students and 37,000 employees, all engaged in a high performance organization with increasingly high expectations seemingly coming at us from many angles.
But try as we must, because the quality of lives of every individual on this campus matters, and as a result we provide excellent and creative services to faculty, students and staff on a range of topics. A few examples:
I am just scratching the surface here, as I did not even mention the discounts for gym memberships, smoking cessation programs and the free annual flu shots. And, ultimately, enhancing our wellness is up to each of us as individuals. However, I am so very proud to work for Penn which offers opportunities for all of us in adopting healthier behaviors so that we can live productive and happy lives.
I encourage you to set the tone in your workplace by taking a walk at lunch, attending an HR workshop on mindfulness, participate in a financial literacy workshop, and support those colleagues who do.
Be well,
Craig
