Query
Template: /var/www/farcry/projects/fandango/www/action/sherlockFunctions.cfm
Execution Time: 4.25 ms
Record Count: 1
Cached: Yes
Cache Type: timespan
Lazy: No
SQL:
SELECT top 1 objectid,'cmCTAPromos' as objecttype
FROM cmCTAPromos
WHERE status = 'approved'
AND ctaType = 'moreinfo'
objectidobjecttype
11BD6E890-EC62-11E9-807B0242AC100103cmCTAPromos

Walking the Walk of Wellness

October 24, 2016 Valerie Como Bentley University

“Go home!” It was said with warmth and concern, but also with seriousness and certitude. My colleagues had watched me battle a spring cold for the prior two days, and could see that my condition was only getting worse. I followed their advice, acquiescing to my greater concern of infecting them. The next morning, I returned to the office, quickly facing a similar chorus of comments about the need for me to rest and the reminder that the work could wait. My defense was literally and figuratively weak as I explained that I wanted to ensure some items were tended to before the long holiday weekend. Yet, within a few hours, I was back to the couch in my family room-turned-infirmary, wrapped in the warmest blanket I could find on an eighty-degree day. As I lay there watching a Bravo marathon, I finally began to recognize that my colleagues were right in forcing me to go home. If they had not been so firm and unrelenting in their order to do so, I would still be sitting at my desk, struggling to keep my head up. 

If the tables were reversed, I would have been part of the wellness choir, encouraging the individual feeling under the weather to take care of themselves and stressing their health comes first. In fact, I often have this conversation with students who attend academic advising appointments even when they are not feeling well. I caution them that I am not trying to be another parent, but more so want to help them make their health and wellness a priority, as everything else they want to do will build from that foundation. Maslow should be proud, as his hierarchy of needs remains a more useful tool than even the most advanced app on my phone.

And to a certain extent, I do make wellness a priority for myself. I work out every day, consistently log at least seven hours of sleep, and try to keep my diet in check. Even with the recently juggling act of earning my master’s degree while working full-time, I kept these wellness goals on track more often than not. Yet, if I can drag myself to barre class at 5am in the middle of winter, why was I so hesitant to take a bit of sick time when I was clearly in the throes of a significant cold? 

My sense is that this scenario was such a dilemma for me because it represented two competing values that I hold dear and could not reconcile in that moment. I pride myself in having a very strong work ethic. I also place a premium on wellness and taking care of myself. It is usually quite easy for me to work my wellness efforts around the demands of my job, and by default, my professional responsibilities typically take priority during business hours. However, as that week clearly demonstrated, there are times when individual wellness or other personal needs may have to come first…even at 1pm on a Thursday. In fact, on any given day, the scales of professional responsibility and personal wellness may need to shift temporarily to meet the needs of the moment, and then shift again and again as circumstances change. 

This is certainly not the first time that my standards have overlapped in a compelling manner, or created a conundrum as I tried to stay true to my core personal foundations. Working through the intersections of our personal and professional goals, as well as the need for fluidity within those objectives, can often feel like an impossible puzzle. At times like these, I think it is helpful to remember that situations often look clearer with the benefit of hindsight or when they are happening to someone else. Perhaps this is why it is so easy for me to encourage others to take the time to restore their health, yet could not extend the same courtesy to myself.  

Particularly when it comes to wellness matters, it is so easy to sacrifice those longer-term priorities for the more immediate needs on our to-do list. And given that our personal wellness impacts our ability to do almost everything else, it is surprising how often we need to be reminded to make it a priority when we don’t need comparable reminders for other goals. To truly walk the walk of wellness, I need to find a way to better integrate my commitment to my own well-being with my commitment to the profession. Even if that means that I more regularly take a step back, identify which values are in tension with each other, and consider what I would say/do if I observed a colleague or student in a similar situation, it will move me closer to a more holistic perspective. 

Or if all else fails, I will simply attach this post to my thermometer!   


Valerie Como
Senior Academic Advisor
Bentley University