The Evolution of Wellness

by Paige Webb

I can recall driving down a busy street in my hometown and seeing a “Health and Wellness Center” tucked away behind some trees. The sign wasn’t bright. Traffic in and out was scarce. My intuition about the center during my “workaholic” years told me that it wasn’t a place for me. I thought that at the least, that’s where people went to improve their health, and to get “well.” I superficially placed it in a medical category of sorts, similar to a doctor’s office or injury center.

Early last year, the drastic tug of the economy began to affect me personally and professionally. Instead of traveling 50-60% as per my job description at a software company, I was traveling 80-90% to cover twice the territory I should have been covering. I was a road warrior. If the economic times were hurting my company, I knew that since I was the "top performer" I would be able to keep my job. When my eyes shut at night, whether I was at home or in a hotel, my laptop closed, too. It was sickening, literally.

One morning I woke up at a hotel, and I couldn't move my neck. I couldn't lift my arms, and I could not hold back the tears from the pain I was in. I was at the end of my assignment, so I chose to grin and bear it on the two hour drive home to San Diego. When I hit the city limits, I didn't go home. I went straight to the emergency room. The pain was shooting through my skull and down to my toes. I thought, “What have I done? I must have lifted something incorrectly?” After tests, x-rays, and a brief conversation, the ER doctor sat across from me and said, "All that you have here today is a stress injury. Stress attacks the weakest area of our bodies, and in this case, it's your neck."

Where do stress injuries come from? Looking back at this and considering what I know now from my experience at The Effective EDGE and living the EDGE system, it was my mismanagement of what needed to get done, the constant distractions I allowed to take over my day, and lack of focus. These are the only real reasons my laptop stayed on until I fell asleep, these are the only real reasons I never let go of my BlackBerry in the emergency room. I couldn't let go of work. I had neglected to take care of myself.

After this rude awakening, I dedicated efforts towards “health and wellness.” My attitude and aptitude changed. I discovered what work/life balance was like (by force). When I was laid off in October, I soon found work at The Effective Edge. Since my professional transformation while using the EDGE system combined with a fresh perspective, my laptop stays at the office. Gone are my days of “workaholicism,” thank goodness. Hello, health and wellness!