Wellness in a Sick World

Pretty bold title, huh? From birth it seems most of us are told that society at large is the norm. Trudging we go into fitting ourselves to be part of what is considered average and accepted behaviors. But is our society, on the whole, a standard for which to model our individual selves? Look around – maybe physically in the room you’re currently in or think about things that have occurred over the last 12 months – how much of that is of wellness?

Before we unpack I need to lay out a statement of truth an honesty.

I am not perfect, I have broken things and hurt people. Through those experiences I have learned better ways of living to practice actions and activities daily on the path of wellness that never ends.

Back to the wellness, or lack thereof, of society.

I’ve always thought I was maladjusted to life – but maybe it’s that I’m maladjusted to society, and it’s the norms we have accepted which are the real problem. Life and society are two vastly different things. One a human construct (society) and the other something far more ambiguous and primal than a dictionary can define.

The title really could be, “Maladjusted?”

Maladjusted as a word, in a word, is the whole of the question. But this becomes an entire thing when we ask questions of our society as it is. You see, the world tells us that we need to get on board with what the rest of the population is doing. And there are consequences to not. They’ll cast out those not like them. From bullying and ignoring to prison and death.

Adjust to society or else, that’s what they tell us whether implicitly or explicitly.

So conformity begins. From an early age we attempt to be like the next person – whether roaring with the economy in the 1920’s, joining Uncle Sam in the 1940’s, keeping up with the Jones’s in the 1960’s, keeping up with the Kardashians in the 2010’s, or subscribing to your favorite influencer of 2022. We look around and find someone that is a social norm, alter our very state, and adjust to society.

But why are societal norms the thing we strive to achieve? I look around at our society, whether macro or micro and I see a sick world. Our society is sick, rife with corruption of mind and body. Paradigms so distorted reality of life not seen. Further, there’s all the obvious unwell traits of society – selfishness, egoism, sexism, homophobia, etc. What’s worse: Those we elect into power either by follows on IG or ballots in a box are chief among the perpetrators of the sickness. But that doesn’t absolve us non popular people – we carry our own part in the sickness of society, and maybe the greatest part. We are all guilty.

I am maladjusted to this society, and that’s okay.

Do you cringe when you see and hear things on the news? Do you feel awful when someone hurts you? Do you lash out irrationally when you witness death and destruction of things, animals, and the less fortunate? Are you one of those people who numb pain? Or maybe you have found yourself suicidal and the pain too great to move on? Have you had depression or anxiety? And so on – this list can go on ad infinitum.

If you are one of these people then welcome. We are the same. We are maladjusted to a sick society.

It’s okay to be any of those things in the paragraph above. In fact, it’s quite normal to be mentally or emotionally or spiritually sick. What’s not well is to live in fear, ego, and self. And that’s where society has gone so very, very wrong. For as far back as I can trace in history, our society has acted out of fear, ego, and self – and thusly has been sick.

Break the chains of shame that societal norms create. Allow yourself the space to be.

I’m neither good nor bad, I just am. I am human – It is my natural state to be restless and discontent with myself, circumstances, and things around me. And through this honesty with myself I’m able to trudge the path of wellness. This isn’t the easier path, either. My life doesn’t look like your favorite Yogi on IG or one of those magnificent martyrs we come to love through their sacrifice. No, my life just looks like a person trying in earnest to be honest with myself in the face of pain, fear, ego, and self. In these moments I apply an approach to get through these things with grace, love, and growth.

You may be different, but you are not broken. Your past matters, your pain is valid. I hope that if you’ve read this far that you’ve found something of value. There’s so much more to this topic that I’ll be writing more on it – and hopefully in digging deeper into the details we’ll find still more relation, compassion, and a solution in the sick society in which we live.