I received a note from a friend once who said, after a major life change, that he was as happy and satisfied as an old lion in the Serengeti. I thought about that note as I was wondering what to write about this month's topic - Wellbeing. I can almost see that lion after a good meal lounging in the shade and raising his head and yawning, so very full and satisfied.

Most of us long for a sense of wellbeing, the immensely satisfying feeling that all is right with our world. Since the mid-20th century, scientists at The Gallop Organization have explored the demands of a life well lived. It conducted a comprehensive global study in 150 countries that showed that when asked what their "best possible future" looked like, most people responded with "good health" and "wealth."

Gallop concluded that it needed more and different questions to get people to thinking about other aspects of their lives as well. After much research, five distinct universal elements of wellbeing were identified across cultures, nationalities, faiths, etc. The elements are the roadways to living a life that matters. And fortunately, they are things we can do something about if we want to change our lives.

Statistically, 66 percent of people do well in at least one of these areas while only seven percent are thriving in all five, according to Gallop. If we are struggling in even one of the areas, we are at risk of having our sense of wellbeing damaged and of making our lives more difficult. To get the most out of our lives, we have to live effectively in all five.

Of these, career wellbeing is probably the most important. Most people, although they spend most of their waking hours at their jobs, underestimate the influence of work on their wellbeing, according to Tom Rath and Jim Harter, authors of Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements.

In fact, when people think of work in general, they consider it a burden, a chore, something to be endured to make money, not something that benefits their wellbeing.

However, statistics tell us otherwise. Work is not only where we spend most of waking hours, but also where we have a strong sense of personal identity. For instance, when strangers meet, one of the first questions to come up is "What do you do?" Work is important to how we relate to people and how we evaluate our lives. Gallop has found that people who are out of work for more than a year take longer to recover their sense of self than from other kinds of losses. They've also found that the more hours people work, the greater their sense of pride.

"People with higher engagement at work have higher career wellbeing," according to Dr. Harter, "and they have higher wellbeing in other areas too - they tend to be healthier physically, they tend to get more involved in their communities, and they tend to have higher social wellbeing. Career wellbeing is so fundamental, if it's not right; it drains other areas pretty quickly."

The moral: If we want to have a sense of wellbeing in our lives, we need to like our jobs. If we don't, we need to find other work that we like. If that's not an option, we have to make a change in our attitudes toward our work. It's not snap-your-fingers easy, but it's not impossible either.

If you are unhappy at work, it might be helpful to make an appointment with a Pastoral Institute counselor to discuss it. You can use your Employee Assistance Program sessions (free to you and confidential). Help is just a call away - 706 649-6500.

Wishing you career wellbeing,
Delane