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Beacons of Light: Ten Principles of Wellness

BY: T. Franklin Murphy | December 1, 2011 (modified January 29, 2023)

Guiding lights for Self-Improvement
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Wellness isn't a list. Science, however, has provided some helpful clues. The Beacons of Light provide direction, lights that illuminate a path to growth.



1. Self Awareness and Mindful Constructive Living: Seek greater awareness of  emotions, thoughts, and motivations. Through quiet attentiveness, we become familiar with ourselves.  This is living mindfully. With awareness of emotional triggers and behavioral responses, we gain freedom to choose, leading to fulfillment of our intentions.​

2. Compassion Towards Self and Others: Compassionately accepting where we are in our personal journey, creates a necessary friendly atmosphere where growth flourishes. Harsh judgments of self hurts. Shortcomings are an inherent part of humanity and living in a complex world. During our practice of mindfulness (Beacon #1), we can recognize critical self-judgements and work to soften those judgments with kindness.

We also give this compassion to others, forming bonds, and creating closeness. We must recognize suffering in others. Be understanding  of their weaknesses and imperfections. Constantly reminding ourselves that no one is all “good” or all “bad.”

​3. Commitment to Personal Work: Make self-improvement a life practice. Seek ways to improve:
  • Positive feelings of gratefulness
  • Self-soothing through meditation, creating reasonable expectations, mindful breathing, rebuttals to harsh self-judgements
  • Talents and skills that engage your mind and improve your life (Flow)
  • Relationship skills through practice, education and attentiveness
​​
​4. Accept Personal Responsibility: By ignoring our role in problems, we are condemn to relive the same painful mistakes. Spend time self-examining rather than affixing blame.

​5. Knowing and Honoring Healthy Values: Our increased mindfulness reveals personal standards. This knowledge guides us with choices. Knowing our values, we can strive to align those values with our actions, working to eradicate misguided standards that hurt ourselves and others.

6. Purpose Driven: Life without purpose is mundane. Meaning transcends discomforts, giving hope. Our purpose doesn't need to be fixed. Life is dynamic and as such our purpose may change.

​7. Courage: With courage, we act in the face of fear. We use courage to follow values that oppose widely accepted norms. Courage is a motivating power, pushing us forward into the darkness of the unknown.

​8. Positive Associations: We need healthy relationships for support in times of  trouble. We understand that inner resources are limited and success often requires a group effort. By actively seeking friends that lift, we increase our ability to give.

​9. Honest and Open Communication: Effective communication skills are not natural. These skills take effort to develop. Our mindfulness practices open us for connection. We must not coerce, force, compel, punish, reward, manipulate, boss, criticize, blame, complain, nag, badger, or withdraw in order to obtain our desires. Instead, we openly share our wants and needs but accept “no” when appropriate.

10. Contributing to the Whole: We don't live in isolation. We are part of a larger whole. We must live with respect to the environment (world, community, family) and work to improve the world through active participation.
T. Franklin Murphy
T. Franklin Murphy
Wellness. Writer. Researcher.
​T. Franklin Murphy has a degree in psychology. He tirelessly researches scientific findings that contribute to wellness. In 2010, he began publishing his findings.
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​Other Flourishing Life Society articles of interest on this topic:
Masochistic Personality Traits. A Flourishing Life Society psychology definition.
Continuity Theory of Aging. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Flourishing Life Society Article Link. Cycle of Personal Growth.
Role Theory. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Emotionally Detached. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Building a foundation of wisdom and skill to manage the unpredictable encounters in life.
Emotional Patterns. When Emotional Reactions Hurt. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Splitting: A Defense Mechanism. A Flourishing Life Society article image link
Ahes of Destruction. Bountiful Blessings after Traumatic Losss
Quirky Personality Traits: Accepting the Oddness. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Developmental Tasks. A Flourishing Life Society article link
FLS internal Link. My Amazing Discoveries in Wellness. We provide the unconscious mind with conscious work. The mind intertwines philosophies to create a personal narrative that promotes wellness.
We are engaged in a constant work of becoming, satisfying needs, entertaining wants, and creating meaning. We can do this purposely or haphazardly.
Negativistic Personality Disorder. A Psychological Defintion. A Flourishing Life Society article link
Achieving the most from the wisdom of emotions requires purposeful effort to integrate emotions into our larger concepts of self.
Internal Link: Flagship article. Ten Beacons of Light. Improving our lives isn't from following items on a simple list. Science, however, has provided some helpful clues to our pursuit of wellness. These ten beacons of light provide direction, lights that illuminate a path to growth.
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