Case Study 18

Spiritual Wellness Fun and Function Model

by Sister Christine Doerger

My wellness philosophy rests in my relationship with God and hopefully radiates to my neighbor and all of creation through loving, caring about and for, accepting and respecting all created things because they are a reflection of God. I believe each individual is special and priceless and deserving of my love. And I believe that this stems from a deep relationship with my Creator. My philosophy was developed from my loving parents and my religious community and my religious upbringing in my home and school. My parents were very caring individuals lovingly reaching out to others. And I learned so much from my Sister-teachers and my Sisters in Community—in my training and in living with the Sisters. And, most importantly, from God Himself through prayer. The dimension of wellness, therefore, that I have developed above the others is spirituality. The activities I do to support this is encouraging attendance at Mass and rosary, which is already on the calendar, but also I like to read touching stories which are spiritually-based showing kindness, forgiveness, love, faith and hope. Actually, I feel as though it's not so much what activities I do, but how I do them. I like to make everyone feel good about themselves and make them smile. I like to make activities enjoyable and exciting! All of this will hopefully reach the spiritual realm of each resident giving them meaning to their lives and bringing them peace, joy and calm.