Living Life to the Full

 January 28, 2025

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 Hello!  How is each and every one?  The week passed by with celebrations every other day.  The 21^st was the anniversary of the First visit of the Successor of St. Josemaria to the Region of the Philippines and East Asia in 1987; the 23^rd was the anniversary of the election of the Prelate in 2017; the 25^th was the conversion of St. Paul, the end of the Christian Unity Octave. It was a week of thanksgiving more than any other day.

A friend of thirty nine years now from Canada dropped by for a visit; it is her turn among her siblings to be with her 90 year old aunt who took care of her father. She had a lot of stories; we enjoyed having her. The two of us dared to take a selfie.  Imagine without any experience in doing so each one of us tried.  She took a better shot not without effort; same with me with much effort but I must say it was a good enough shot. It was fun.

We realized simple are our joys and the world is truly small upon discovering a lot of family and social relations are somehow connected to one other.

Let us now continue with a new chapter and this time on our divine longing for well-being (From Broken Gods, Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart, Gregory K. Popcak, Ph. D. Ch 9).

Opus Dei Choose Life

Satisfying the Divine Longing for Well-Being

In uniting yourself to God’s will, you take on new life and gather great courage, willingly embracing the cross and kissing His hand…, a hand that reaches out to you in love and has no other intention but your greater spiritual well-being.—St. Paul of the Cross

Opus Dei You Make the Path by Walking

 “Be Well.”

A friend expressed this wish to me the other day as I was leaving his home.  It was an honest, albeit casual, good-bye that conveyed his desire that all would be right with me until our paths crossed once again.

Being well is something we all wish for.  No one longs to be ill, to be “out of order,” so to speak.  We all want to lead lives that are healthy, happy, whole, and filled with meaningful connection to others.  And we will go to great lengths to achieve well-being.  We all want to thrive.

Well-Being Defined

Opus Dei

We mentioned above that on the 21^st we celebrated the anniversary of the visit of the first successor of St. Josemaria to the Region of the Philippines and East Asia in 1987.  During one of those days he planted a tree in Makiling, Calamba, Laguna. That tree is presently thriving big with long fat roots very much like the photo above.    

“Thriving” is another word for “well-being.”  When we say, “I don’t want to just survive, I want to thrive,” we usually mean, “I don’t want to limp along as a disjointed collection of unmet and conflicted needs.  I want to experience peace, wholeness, and fulfilment in every area of my life.”

Psychologists define thriving as the harmonious interplay of five different dimensions of well-being (Feeney and Collins, 2014):

Hedonic well-being has to do with the enjoyment you get from your life.  It is different from the pleasure-driven (hedonic) happiness we discussed in our examination of abundance in Chapter 4.  Hedonism tends to be destructive, but hedonic well-being results from the pursuit of healthy pleasures.  If you know how to enjoy yourself in healthy ways, have a good sense of humor and compelling hobbies, and try to consciously and intentionally take pleasure in the simple joys of daily life, you can be said to have a healthy degree of hedonic well-being.

Eudaimonic well-being is the joy of living a purposeful life (Boniwell, 2012).  If you feel that you are using your gifts to work for the good of others, can identify the small ways you are making a difference in the world, and enjoy the warmth of knowing that the people around you are genuinely better off because you are in their life, you are probably experiencing a strong sense of eudaimonic well-being.

Psychological well-being has to do with having a healthy, positive view of oneself combined with the absence of any mental health symptoms or disorders.  If you like who you are as a person, feel good about your ability to set and meet positive goals for yourself, and are largely free of psychological/emotional problems that affect your ability to function well in your work, roles, and relationships, you probably exhibit a high degree of psychological well-being.

Opus Dei Your Hearts will Rejoice

 Social well-being involves having meaningful connections to people you care about and who care about you. If you feel that you can have faith in other people, that others are basically trustworthy; if you are affirmed by a group that shares your values and beliefs; and if you feel generally cared for by the people in your life, you probably have a high degree of social well-being.

Opus Dei Everything is Ours and Everything s God’s

Physical well-being encompasses physical strength and health.  If you are fit and free of disease, are able to maintain appropriate activity levels, and are physically capable of doing all the activities that are important to you, you probably exhibit a high degree of physical well-being.

Opus Dei Contrition and Reconciliation

Very few people have achieved well-being across all five areas associated with thriving, but the degree to which you enjoy well-being in each of these five categories and hold them in balance is the degree to which you can say that you are thriving.

This morning at breakfast we, three of us, were animatedly talking about diet.  Somebody is concerned with her high cholesterol and thinking of ordering food from an outlet she usually gets her food.  Another one said actually the measure is moderation.  Eat in order to live; just enough of what you need to live.  Early on in our life we had a chart to guide us with a little of everything.  There comes a time in your life that you will need to listen to your body and know what kind of cuisine, food items your body needs.  Then comes the time to say no to caprices and cravings because in the end you will be the one to suffer the consequences of having eaten much more than your body needs and indulging in what we consider as junk food that are at best addictive and unhealthy.

I am sure you will not mind my final suggestion for a full and meaningful life and well being, cultivate a devotion to St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He is the master of interior life, a good worker, a good father, and patron for a happy death.  For those who are married pray to St. Joseph for your husband; for those who are single and planning to get married pray to St. Joseph for a good husband; for those who are looking for a job, pray to St. Joseph for a good job; for those who still do not know what’s in store for them, turn to St. Joseph and he will help you find your place in God’s plans.  You will never have any regrets.

His feast day is on March 19.  You can either do the Seven Sundays novena to St. Joseph, starting on February 2; or a Nine Wednesday novena to him; or a Seven day novena.  Whichever way you wish to do and then nurture your devotion towards him.  

As always let us bring the above thoughts and ideas into our loving conversation with God in the silence of our quiet moments of prayer with Him.  Be attentive to what He tells you and do whatever it is. With St. Augustine be daring and tell Jesus, “Command what you will and give what you command.”

See you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us together again.”

Affectionately,                    

Guadalupinky