A “meaningful life” consists of belonging to, or serving, something more significant than the self (Seligman, 2011, p. 12).,
Cummins (1996) identified the life domains of health, productivity, material wellbeing, intimacy, safety, emotional wellbeing, and community
Vanderweele (2017) generally suggests that there are five domains of human life that should be focused on to promote human flourishing: spirituality, family, work, health, and community.
It is essential to juggle these domains and have a balance
1. Spirituality
Most often neglected rather than prioritised. Religion and Spirituality are often linked, a person does not have to practice a faith to be spiritual. Spirituality enables a purpose in life and dictates how someone may think, feel, and behave to allow them to gain fulfilment (Mercadante, 2014)
When a person’s actions are not in line with their spiritual beliefs, this can cause an imbalance within this life domain2
2. Family
Biological or not. Is an important domain. Family domain is an area of life that can become imbalanced when a person’s roles and responsibilities are not being fulfilled.
3. Work
Work provides a will to learn, develop, and accomplish goals. Work also has a psychosocial aspect. It gives meaning to an individual’s life and satisfies their need to be part of society (Sharabi & Harpaz, 2007). In all societies work plays an important part in the life of most adults, it provides a livelihood and has an economic role. Devoting too much time to work at the detrment of other domains causes an imbalancr
4. Health
Defined as a state of complete physical, emotional, and mental health and social wellbeing. (not the absence of disease) It is essential to adopt a healthy lifestyle and promote healthy living. To exercise, eat healthily, relax, healthy lifestyle and habits and connect spiritually helps to promote overall health. Work stress and financial demands take a toll on physical health, poor health has and effect on work and leads to financial difficulties and ability to live an independent life and to interact with the family and community.
5. Community
It is important to have relationships outside the family. These can be with friends, belonging to a faith community, a sports or hobby club. Community allows people to be united and, like family, allows a sense of safety and security (Bowe et al., 2020). It provides a sense of achievement and fulfilment, especially engagement in charitable causes or helping others. An imbalance occurs if an individual spends too much energy in the community and neglegt the other domains
Tips to balancing
- Realise and accept that not everything can be done in every domain all the time. There is the be limitations to getting everything done due to constraints on time, energy, and money.
- Learn to say No without feeling guilty.
- Poor organization and time management may cause life domains to feel overloaded. Minimize stress by planning time and organizing activities that are the main priority
- Make sure that you create time for Relaxation and leisure.