To understand why wellbeing is important, you must first understand what wellbeing is. In this case, it's also good to know what it means when you have wellbeing. For starters, your wellbeing is your state of comfort, health, and happiness. This means that you must be somewhat comfortable, healthy, and happy to have wellbeing. With that in mind, here are some reasons why wellbeing is important:
Having good wellbeing means that you must have met your physical needs
Comfort is the sign that you are meeting all your physical needs. If you are not meeting all your physical needs, then you will not be comfortable. So, you must meet your physical needs to have good wellbeing. This implies the following:
You must have sustenance.
You won't be comfortable if you are starving to death or dying of thirst. Also, you won't be comfortable if you can't breathe. So nutrition, hydration, and breathable air are crucial to comfort and wellbeing. So if you have good wellbeing, then you have all these things.
You must have protection from the elements.
You won't be comfortable if you are dying of exposure. You won't have much wellbeing either. You must have either shelter or clothing to protect you from the elements. If not, your comfort and wellbeing will suffer. So having good wellbeing means that you have enough clothing or shelter.
You must have access to sanitation and healthcare.
You need sanitation for comfort and wellbeing. You would not be comfortable if you had no restroom facilities when you need them. Also, if you become ill or injured, you wouldn't be comfortable if you had no means to heal. So, having good wellbeing means that you have good sanitation and healthcare.
Having good wellbeing means that you must be in good health
You would not have good wellbeing if you were bedridden for the rest of your life. The same is true for having any long-term debilitation. So having good wellbeing means being in somewhat good health. In fact, anything that affects your health will also affect your wellbeing.
Having good wellbeing means that you must have met your emotional needs
Your happiness is an important part of your wellbeing. Also, your happiness depends on how well you meet your emotional needs. To meet your emotional needs, you must experience one or more of the following:
Time spent with people you enjoy being around
This can be time spent with family, friends, or anyone who is fun to be around. The important factor is that you enjoy being around these people.
Time spent doing or experiencing things you enjoy
These things can be anything from hobbies to vacations. They can be activities or passive experiences. What matters is that you enjopy them.
Activities that make you feel good about yourself
These are things that you do for yourself or others that make you feel good about yourself. They can include self-improvement or charitable causes. You can include anything that promotes a positive self-image.
Moments of calm and inner peace
These moments give you a chance to relax. They can include many things from meditating to relaxing on your back porch. They can also double as activities and experiences that you enjoy.
Recognizing your good fortunes
This is when you recognize the enjoyable moments while you are enjoying them. It is also when you recognize that your quality of life is good. Some call it "counting your blessings". Regardless, it is a very important part of your happiness.
So having good wellbeing means that you are meeting enough of your emotional needs to be happy.
Your wellbeing and quality of life influence each other
So far, I have pointed out many indicators of good wellbeing. Also, these indicators influence your quality of life. This is no surprise because your quality of life influences your wellbeing. So your wellbeing reflects your quality of life.
But your wellbeing can also influence your quality of life. For example, poor health can prevent you from experiencing some enjoyable activities. Also, your happiness can affect other people's desire to be around you. It can also affect your enjoyment of activities. This can create a feedback loop that leads to great happiness or unhappiness.
Wellbeing has intrinsic value
Wellbeing is important for the same reason that comfort, health, and happiness are. It is because they all have intrinsic value. This means that they don't need anything else to justify their value. Although wellbeing can be a means to an end, it doesn't need to be.
Wellbeing is often the end that motivates many of our actions. We often do things because we believe that they will benefit our wellbeing in some way. This is true whether it is instant gratification or delayed gratification. Even when we do something altruistic, we know that we will feel better about ourselves. This better feeling about ourselves brings an improvement in our wellbeing.
In summary, wellbeing is your state of comfort, health, and happiness. It is important for a few reasons. It is an important measure of your quality of life. So, having good wellbeing means that you are in good health. It also means that you are meeting your physical and emotional needs.
But wellbeing and quality of life can influence each other. So, your wellbeing can affect your quality of life and vise versa. This can create a feedback loop that leads to great happiness or unhappiness. Wellbeing also has intrinsic value. This means that it doesn't have to be a means to an end. It can be an end in itself.