“Oh, hi, mom. Unfortunately I didn’t win the game. I was playing this guy, rated 2300 and I was leading for most of it – but then I lost on time.” It was our eighteen-year-old son Matan, calling from Philadelphia with an update from the World Chess Tournament.

For a long time social scientists understood the importance of a sense of control on our well-being, but it wasn’t until Michael Marmot published the Whitehall studies that the magnitude of the impact was understood.

There are four primary sites of well-being: individual persons, relationships, organizations, and communities. While we can distinguish among the well-being of a person, a relationship, an organization, or a community, they are highly interdependent.

Growing up under conditions of neglect, where your worth is questioned, will likely result in timidity and self-doubt. Such characteristics do not bode well for making a contribution to anybody. What’s more, they can lead to disease, dysfunction, and early death. Feeling valued as a child is one of the best predictors of health and wellness as an adult.

Why did Muhamad Yunus get a Noble Prize?

She had just experienced the greatest disappointment of her life. She could not marry the love of her dreams. Heart broken, in desperation, she ran away, leaving everything and everyone behind.

We are all functioning in webs of wellness. Learn how all the threads weave a human story