Freedom of choice in decision making as an indicator of wellness and personal growth

Pages: 881-883
Neelam Rathee (Department of Psychology, Post Graduate Govt. College for Girls, Sector -11, Chandigarh)

Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a more successful existence. It has also been described as the constant, conscious pursuit of living life to its fullest potential. Wellness is a combination of healthiness and happiness. The self-actualization process for the personal growth helps create true happiness from within. Happiness is a choice one has to make. In a world of seemingly endless options, the choices which we make for ourselves make us happier. If there is a big clash between our own choices and the options which we are pressurized to choose, incongruity between the real and ideal self develops. This leads to a disintegrated and maladjusted personality. Freedom of choice with complete acceptance and support from the significant others ushers one to the fullest realization of the potential. It enhances the acceptance of self. It leads to the virtues of optimism, trust, self-respect and autonomy which make us more confident, self-reliant, positive, secure and happier. Further it develops a healthy and balanced personality striving to actualize, maintain and enhance the experiencing organism. Such an organism on a path of personal growth is a perfect combination of happiness, healthiness and wellness. In this paper, such a model of wellness based on freedom of choice has been proposed which instills personal growth with a healthy and happy life.