Personal resources can be physical, psychological, financial, social, etc. Resources assist you in carrying out a myriad of activities, solve problems and achieve goals. Resources are the bridges connecting what you currently have with what you lack, lust, or are just curious about. As helpful tools, means, and assets, these connections, conduits, associations (as resources), can provide, supplement, and bolster well-being throughout the aging process. Some resources focus on general well-being whereas others concentrate on specific aspects of living.
Educational resources provide information and the skill awareness and understanding to acquire or retain knowledge. Education can spur imagination and innovation; foster an appreciation for learning and promote a love for life-long learning. Education encourages inquiry, independent thinking and self-direction. Education lays the foundation for informed decision-making.
Quotes about education: Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death. ~ Einstein It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. ~ Aristotle
Environmental resources provide the knowledge and tools to enhance your home and community settings. Environmental resources can be defined as elements of the human environment, and include both natural and built resources. The main characteristics of environmental resources are their utility, limited availability and their potential for consumption as well as depletion.
Quotes about environment: Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life’s undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room. ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe
Financial resources speak to the concern about money available to meet the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter, as well as medical care. Financial resources are necessary to meet debts and obligations, and offer the comforts and opportunities for experiencing and enjoying your life in ways defined by you. It is all about accomplishing your financial goals through planning, budgeting, and saving within your constraints. Be as productive as you can to … accomplish an activity, or as a means to undertake an enterprise or acquire an asset. Assess credit vs. debit, saving vs. spending and note that life events such as big ticket purchases (i.e. car or house), major medical problems as well as divorce or death of a spouse can result in financial strain as can any unexpected catastrophe.
Quotes about finance: Easy payments …easy approval. Debt is very EASY to get into, but makes it HARD to live victoriously. ~ Bradley Vinson Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Physical health resources are supportive of the biological state of the person. Good nutrition, regular exercise, exceptional medical care, routine sleep hygiene, and forsaking bad habits will provide you with resources to increase personal well-being and optimize efficiency. Use passive rest to restore physical strength (sitting/laying on a couch to watch TV, read a book, listen to music, etc.). Use active rest as a way to allow you to recover emotionally (leisure sports, hobbies, walking and nature hiking, travel, etc.). Get regular vigorous exercise (at least 3-6 days per week).
Quotes about health: The greatest wealth is health. ~ Virgil Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. ~ World Health Organization, 1948
Psychological or mental health resources can provide you with a deeper appreciation of variance in cognitive and behavioral perspicuity. Mental illness should never be ignored or trivialized. Mental health care is an integral part of well-being and should be included in yearly health check-ups and assessments. Good mental health resources can assist you towards understanding personal choices, ways-of-being, and irresolute emotions. With greater insight you can expand your personal beliefs about self and the world around you.
Quotes about mental health: It is not the bruises on the body that hurt. It is the wounds of the heart and the scars on the mind. ~ Aisha Mirza It's up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind. ~ Steve Maraboli, 'Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience'
Social resources reach into every interaction and situation that involves human behavior. Social resources are those provide by family, friends, community, associations, institutions, businesses, and government entities. Community, state, national, and global entities (represented by schools, churches, hospitals, courts, prisons, etc.), use structured governance to address population’s social norms, direction, care and provisions. Your interpersonal relationships, from family to the friends you choose, to the caring words of encourage you offer to a stranger on the street are not only supportive of others but also of self. Cultivate curiosity, observation, participation, acceptance, empathy, compassion, and a loving stance toward self, family, and others.
Quotes about social well-being: The fundamental law of human beings is interdependence. A person is a person through other persons. ~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu You can't be a resource for others unless you nourish yourself. ~ Alexandra Stoddard There is no joy in possession without sharing. ~ Erasmus No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. ~ Aesop
Spiritual resources are an integral part of holistic well-being. Nurturing and developing your spirituality is just as important as healthy eating, exercising, and building strong relationships. Spiritual resources will provide you with the tools to develop a meditative prayer practice. The benefits produced from seeking and engaging spiritual resources transcends Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’. Incorporate spiritual poems, quotes, symbols, reading scripture texts and prayers, words of encouragement, meditation, mindfulness, and rituals for healing, inspiration, and spiritual growth.
Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life. ~ Buddha More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate. ~ Roy T. Bennett, 'The Light in the Heart' Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Resources possess various levels of utility and capability, to lend themselves toward holistic well-being and resiliency in times of adversity, depending upon person, place, and circumstances. The balanced development of all of these resources (education, environment, financial, physical, psychological, social, and spiritual) allows a person to perform many tasks, goals, activities, and undertakings with optimal efficiency and achieve goals with a better probability for success.
Final closing thought: Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life. ~ Michael Leboeuf