What is wellbeing?

Human wellbeing is a general term that encompasses all the different facets of the human experience that allow a person to flourish, thrive and enjoy a happy, full, satisfying life.

Human wellbeing is based on the reality that we evolved as a highly social and self-aware biological species with basic physical and emotional needs that drive our survival.  We are subject to things that can be beneficial to us and things that can be harmful to us in terms of our physical, mental and emotional health.

We can objectively determine that some things are harmful to our physical health, such as being severely injured, getting a debilitating disease or losing the physical ability to do activities that we formerly enjoyed.  The same can be said for our mental and emotional health.

We can also objectively determine that some things are beneficial to our physical heath, such as getting adequate food and nutrition, unpolluted air and water, physical activity, sufficient rest and sleep and positive social interaction. The same can also be said for our mental and emotional health.

The simple concept of wellbeing obviously can become extremely complicated when groups of people find themselves in competition, disputes and conflict with each other.  But as a general guide it provides a sound basis for judging how our actions and rules of conduct actually affect ourselves and other people.

The idea of wellbeing provides the basis from which human rights were developed.  It allows for an objective evaluation of the actions and rules a society should put in place to allow its citizens to get along with each other and create at least the opportunity for everyone to live their life in a positive and fulfilling way.