“Well-being cannot exist just in your own head. Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships and accomplishment.”

This quote should not surprise us, but, as John Tierney states in his New York Times article (2011), Martin Seligman’s work with positive psychology is trying to help us humans figure out what’s deeper than happiness. (See: A New Gauge to See What’s Beyond Happiness by JOHN TIERNEY in New York Times, Published: May 16, 2011 at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/science/17tierney.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0).

Having spent the afternoon with a room full of curious leaders studying their Strengths, it’s amazing to me how leaders not only don’t know how to embrace their unique giftedness, but leaders in ministry are living with such mixed messages that it seems almost impossible to aspire to living “well” (as defined by the above quote.)

Yet, at the heart of ministry, I’d argue, is exactly that – living well, or as John puts it, living abundantly. Abundant life is not about happiness, but about living well.

So, today, heading into the weekend, how might you engage in a practice of living well? And how might you, as a leader in ministry, help those around you do the same?

Terri