Page 3 - Life Skills

ch04.qxp 9/22/2009 5:02 PM Page 63

Personal Wellness ■ Chapter 4 63

Physical Wellness Roadblocks
Being physically fit makes you alert and energetic. You can focus when you are at to Wellness
school or work and have lots of energy for enjoying your friends and other activi-
ties. Things that contribute to physical fitness include: Sometimes, the way you think or
act in a situation can affect your
■ Routine medical care
wellness. Positive thoughts and
■ Getting enough sleep actions contribute to wellness;
■ Eating right negative thoughts and attitudes
■ Regular exercise are roadblocks to wellness.
Physical activity is one of the best things you can do to promote your own well-
ness. It keeps your heart and other muscles strong, increases your energy level, Low self-esteem
improves self-esteem, and—best of all—it’s fun.
Conflicting values
Emotional Wellness
Being emotionally healthy makes you confident and enthusiastic. You can think Inflexible standards
clearly and critically, set realistic goals, and make healthy choices. Things that con-
tribute to emotional wellness include:
Unrealistic goals
■ High self-esteem
■ Positive self-concept
Risky decisions
■ A way to express thoughts and feelings
■ A positive attitude
High self-esteem
You are angry because your brother is hogging the computer. How might anger
affect your emotional wellness? What can you do to reduce your anger?
Positive values

TECH CONNECT
Flexible standards
A pedometer is a small electronic device that counts the
number of steps you take. Most models also tell you the Realistic goals
number of miles or kilometers you walk and calculate
how many calories you burn. Advanced models store data
for days and can connect to a computer or other device Healthy decisions
so you can export the data into a spreadsheet program for analysis.
Walking is one of the easiest, cheapest, and most convenient means of
being physically active. Wearing a pedometer encourages you to set How can you use critical thinking
to identify whether a factor
fitness goals, because it keeps track of your progress and motivates you
to succeed. will contribute to wellness or
interfere with it?
Do you know of any other technologies that might help motivate you to
be physically active?