Wellness: A Personal Choice or an Imposed Need?
Wellness: a personal choice or an imposed need?
Ecclesiastes 7:12 (King James edition) “For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.”
We have continually witnessed man’s, yes man’s, interpretation of different religious scripts as people have sought spiritual well-being through religion. Spiritual well-being for us as individuals goes further than mass religion, the senses of belonging that seem to have followed in terms of pressing how social media and its popularism have become the font of knowledge.
The verse prompts a few questions regarding the “excellency of knowledge” and in how we, across so many societies, have come to equate rich with purely monetary terms. The verse suggests wisdom and knowledge are tools to enhance life, yet how we acquire and use wisdom and knowledge is influenced by numerous factors. Societal norms, cultural narratives, and personal choices and, given these broad influences, the pursuit of wellness can be seen as an individual decision and or a response to external pressures.
The question of what constitutes “knowledge” today has grown more contentious. In an age of abundant information, we face the paradox of seemingly knowing more but understanding less as people venture their opinions as their informed knowledge. The access to data, much unverified in the way 72.7 percent of facts are made up in the heat of the argument, means multiple routes become apparent as we seek to find something out. A maze of facts, opinions, beliefs and just downright lies are there to navigate when we seek to make informed decisions.
When looking at our own wellness where, marketing of products and services, as well as lifestyle choices, becomes apparent.
Previously, knowledge was hard-won, often passed down through traditions or derived from observation and experience. It still is the case, but the insidious presence, unfounded belief all things tech are true, means with modern technology, we’re bombarded by information as misleading as much as it can enlighten. This article, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59895258, brings forward tests and our own use, misuse, plus interpretation, to reinforce beliefs and behaviour. Tests, statistics, and expert opinions — especially in health — can be interpreted in multiple ways depending on our biases. If a piece of knowledge supports our preconceived views, we may accept it uncritically; if it challenges us, we might dismiss it outright.
Culture, Behaviour and the Covid-19 Pandemic
During the pandemic, scientific recommendations about masks, vaccines, and lockdowns were met with various responses. Some saw them as necessary for public health, while others interpreted them as infringing personal freedom. Here we see knowledge being refracted through cultural, political, and social lenses, resulting in vastly different responses to the same set of facts. Thus, knowledge is no longer a simple matter of fact but often a battleground where belief, identity, and culture collide.
The wellness industry today is a testament to this collision. On one hand, wellness practices — whether it’s physical fitness, mental health, or spiritual well-being — are promoted as personal choices. We are encouraged to take responsibility for our health, to be mindful, to exercise, eat well, and to seek balance. These are framed as choices we, as individuals, must make to live our best lives.
Yet, are these real choices, or are they, in part, imposed by societal expectations? Many wellness trends, from dietary fads to mindfulness apps, come packaged in the language of self-improvement. However, they also come with a level of pressure — whether implicit or explicit — we should conform to these norms to achieve wellness. In this sense, wellness becomes an imposed need, driven by market forces, social media influencers, and societal narratives about what it means to be “healthy.”
Moreover, wellness is often presented through a lens of privilege. While it’s easy to suggest wellness is a personal choice, not everyone has equal access to the resources to make such choices possible. Organic food, gym memberships, therapy sessions, and time for self-care are luxuries not everyone can afford. For many, staying healthy may be less about choice and more about survival in environments imposing stress, where poor living conditions or financial constraints entail short-term expediency prevails over longer-term needs.
Knowledge as a Tool for Wellness and Well-Being
The responses to Covid-19 brought many of these issues into sharp focus. The way different cultures, communities, and individuals were impacted by and responded to the crises revealed how personal choice and external pressures deeply influence wellness and health behaviours. Some adhered strictly to health guidelines, while others resisted, based on their cultural values, distrust in authority, or personal beliefs.
The BBC article draws attention to how data are used and misused, reinforcing existing biases or behaviours inside yourself or brought forward by the social norms you seek to be part of. The pandemic revealed how health information, even when grounded in science, can be interpreted differently based on one’s cultural lens. It also showed how behaviours once considered purely personal — like wearing a mask or staying indoors — could become politicized and contested, demonstrating how even wellness practices can be socially constructed.
Cultural behaviour versus culture itself is an interesting dimension. Much of what we see today is short-term learned behaviour, not culture evolved over generations. The rapid changes in societal norms — such as the normalization of remote work, the increasing focus on mental health, or the emphasis on hygiene — are responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Still, things change, and although there has been enlightenment, the pressures of paying the bills can swiftly undermine the livelihood-living balances. These are not profoundly ingrained cultural shifts but reactive behaviours where popularists, conspiracy theorists and politicians seek to consolidate their own livelihoods and ways of life.
Can you balance? How to gain a balanced approach
Returning to the biblical perspective from Ecclesiastes, “wisdom giveth life to them that have it.” Power of knowledge lies in how we interpret it. How we use knowledge. How we apply knowledge to improve our lives. In terms of wellness, true wisdom involves interrogating knowledge, discerning between what is genuinely beneficial and what is simply a trend or an external pressure masquerading as self-development and self-care.
Wellness is a nuanced concept shaped by where you are as a person, your present knowledge and wellness impacting how you use external influences. Ecclesiastes offers a thought provocation — wisdom and knowledge are tools for life. In today’s world, the challenge is in discerning how to use the vast amounts of information at our disposal to make choices serving our well-being rather than simply succumbing to societal or market-driven pressures.
True wisdom lies in knowing when to trust external guidance and when to follow one’s own inner compass, always striving for balance in physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
To achieve true wellness, one must balance personal choice and societal influence by asking critical questions on the knowledge available and how this feeds your own wisdom:
– Are the health choices we make informed by a depth of research building on the wisdom available to science, and culturally evolved practices? Ask how you triangulated data and information, checking marketing with hype and cross-referencing themes.
– Do we take the time to reflect on what wellness means for us individually, or are we following pre-packaged solutions offered by the wellness industry?
– Are we being sold panaceas?
– Or imposed standards generated by external sources working for themselves far more than for you?
– Are we pursuing wellness because it aligns with our values, or because we feel pressured to conform to societal health and beauty standards?
Wishing you physical health, mental strength in one’s self and those you trust, emotional openness to further invest you love and trust.
And a spiritual questioning to support the development of inner peace reflecting through in your emotional, mental and physical well-being.
