What's this A-Z of Wellbeing all about?

So if you are wondering what this wellbeing journey is all about here's an excerpt from the introduction to the book... hope you can join the" language-learning, wellbeing-living "adventure this year

From the "A-Z of Wellbeing" by Ruth Rice Authentic Media "This is a book designed to be used by anyone who has set up Renew spaces to help them keep the DNA of wellbeing strong as they do the simple thing of being present, prayerful and working in partnership in their communities. A Renew Wellbeing space is a quiet, shared space where it is ‘OK not to be OK’.[i] The first one began in September 2015 and at the time of writing we are working with around 200 churches setting up Renew spaces. We are praying for many, many more spaces to spring up. Hosted by churches, these spaces are simple, safe and sustainable and came out of my own broken story. You can read about all this in my first book Slow Down, Show Up and Pray.[ii] This book does not require you to have a Renew space but it might encourage you to think about opening one or help you keep good wellbeing have if you do have one.

But this book is also, I hope, an invitation to anyone with a pulse to attend to their own wellbeing, to write and live their own alphabet of peace. There is no greater task, I believe, than to find a language that enables us to speak honestly and live healthily together around the area of mental and emotional health.

This A –Z is my way of saying ‘Let’s all talk wellbeing, live wellbeing, be communities of wellbeing’.

I am using a lexicon approach because I love words. I know lots of them! ‘Words create worlds’.[iii] Words are more powerful than we think. Not just the ones that leave our mouths but the ones that rattle round inside our heads. I actually think the source of this quote goes back to the very beginning of time when God spoke and the world came into being. Whatever your personal beliefs about this, we all know how powerful words can be to build us up or knock us down. Words that we speak to ourselves can limit us or inspire us. These words that we think and speak become the bedrock for the formation of a view of the world and ourselves.

As a chronic, almost Olympic level, worrier, I know the truth of this. I know first-hand how the words in my head can dominate my day. Words about wellbeing are really powerful. So is this to be yet another self-help book about positive thinking for our wellbeing? I hope not! The intention in these pages is to open up some of the words I have found helpful in my journey of recovery from breakdown and in my adventure of learning to live better within my own skin. This is an ongoing language-learning sort of book. I am committed to learning the language of wellbeing."