There are three categories of wellbeing that we can be in:
- True wellbeing
- Pseudo-wellbeing
- Poor wellbeing
The 3 Categories of Veterinary Wellbeing
There are three categories of wellbeing that one can classify themselves in. In this section, you will find the definitions of each. I believe these definitions provide much more clarity than the ones listed by the sources above, and they make it easier for us to know where we stand in regards to wellbeing.
With that being said, let’s take a look at Pseudo-wellbeing and True Wellbeing.
Pseudo Wellbeing vs True Wellbeing
To keep this very simple, I believe that all humans who are well can place themselves in one of two categories in terms of wellbeing. You’re either a person with true wellbeing, or you’re a person with pseudo-wellbeing.
True Wellbeing is the intentionally created state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous as the result of combining and practicing well-thought out, frequent, and deliberate personal development and self-care.
True wellbeing is deliberately acquired and can be confidently maintained regardless of circumstances, conditions, life events, and the actions of others.
Pseudo-wellbeing is the coincidental state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous as the result of unconscious or forced acts of personal development, self-care, and/or the presence of a pleasant combination of circumstances, conditions, life events, and the actions of others.
Pseudo-wellbeing can be quickly derailed by the right combination of personal and professional circumstances, conditions, and life events. In other words, difficult challenges or life struggles can quickly take the individual from an apparent state of being well to a state of poor wellbeing.
GM PowerNote: An individual could very well live a life of pseudo-wellbeing their entire life! They wouldn’t be miserable. They would likely be comfortable. However, I would compare the risk of living a life of pseudo-wellbeing to the risk of a dog who isn’t up-to-date on heartworm prevention and tests negative for heartworms. Perhaps there are no mosquitoes around. Perhaps there are mosquitoes and the dog just hasn’t come across one who is capable of giving the dog heartworm disease. However, the dog is at-risk of heartworm disease if the right conditions ever present themselves. The fact that the dog doesn’t have heartworms is purely coincidental, and the veterinary professional who is living a life of pseudo-wellbeing is in a very similar situation!
Poor wellbeing is simply the lack of either true wellbeing or pseudo-wellbeing.
People with pseudo-wellbeing can’t easily or effectively communicate to others the principles and virtues of wellbeing. They tend to not really know how they are achieving their state of happiness, health, and prosperity, nor do they know what it is they are doing that’s helped them get to where they are. An individual with pseudo-wellbeing will not have a strong desire to help others achieve a life of wellbeing. They may not have the desire to help other people become well because they don’t really know what to tell someone because most of their wellbeing has been coincidental!
For example, an individual who is a doctor and is living an amazing life of pseudo-wellbeing may erroneously recommend to young people to become doctors so that they can experience the amazing life of wellbeing as a doctor also!
The student may then look at the material things the doctor has… they may also look at the lives the doctor has saved, and they may then – erroneously – decide to take that path, not realizing that there are many roads to happiness, health, and prosperity.
For this student, things may go well for a while, but if the student’s wellbeing is based upon being a doctor, then their wellbeing is circumstantial and dependent upon them being a doctor. Furthermore, just as soon as the going gets tough, they may find themselves in a state of poor wellbeing because their wellbeing cause – being a doctor – is no longer doing the trick. Poor wellbeing will result.
Let’s contrast this example with another example.
An individual who is a doctor and living a life of amazing true wellbeing understands that a person can have any trade they want and still be happy, healthy, and prosperous as long as they operate off of principles and truth. Therefore, the doctor with true wellbeing would ask a student lots of questions to help them figure out what they want to do. The mentor would then offer the student principles, tools, strategies, and secrets of obtaining true wellbeing. The mentor would then tell the student, “I don’t care what career path you choose. Choose the one you think you want to do because it would bring you the most enjoyment and meaning. Just remember to keep all of the principles I have shared with you in mind as you do whatever you decide to do. Enjoy!”