Wellbeing Journey

Y O U R Wellbeing J O U R N E Y

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invitation
Y O U R

Imagine living your best life...
reaching that point where everything
falls into place…
Imagine experiencing life to the full,
firing on all cylinders...
Imagine discovering complete
wellbeing in every area of life...
Where we are struggling, we’ll find
breakthrough. Where we’re lost, we’ll
find guidance and where there’s hurt,
we’ll see healing and restoration.
Joanna Adeyinka introducing
The Wellbeing Journey film series, which
she presents with Simon Thomas.
This is your invitation to join
The Wellbeing Journey
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W H E R E A R E W E
going?
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On The Wellbeing Journey we are aiming for:
• higher levels of physical energy & health
• increased emotional freedom & peace
• profound spiritual contentment
• deeper relationships & harmony with
others
• more of a financial margin & scope
to live generously
• greater creativity & purpose in work
– your vocation
Jesus, the founder of Christianity,
told his followers that he came so
they can have real and eternal life
(The Bible, John chapter 10 verse 10).
The Wellbeing Journey is based on
Jesus’ life and teaching and offers
his invitation to abundant life.
As we look at our physical, emotional,
spiritual, relational, financial, and
vocational wellbeing, we will discover that
each of these areas is connected, and that
God has a plan for our wellbeing.
Focus on one area at a time
– which of the six will you
choose to start the journey?
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Y O U R
‘We discover who we are when we
discover whose we are.’
Andy Croft, Soul Survivor Church, Watford
Wellbeing
C H E C K-UP
How do you rate your physical,
emotional, spiritual, relational, financial,
and vocational wellbeing? All these
aspects of our personal wellbeing are
interrelated and are vital to our
satisfaction, contentment and joy in life.
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First, let’s develop a wellbeing mindset
• know where you’re really at
• know who you really are
• know that you can really change
Assess your current wellbeing in the six
key areas - take a test at
wellbeingjourney.org/check.
You are priceless to me.
I love you... Do not be afraid.
I am with you.
The Bible, God’s words through
the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 43:4).
PHYSICAL EMOTIONAL SPIRITUAL RELATIONAL FINANCIAL VOCATIONAL
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C H A N G E I S
possible!
‘The link between a healthy
mindset and our overall wellbeing
can be medically verified...’
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Dr Dave Smith,
in God’s Plan For Your Wellbeing
Dr Henry Cloud says there are three
predictable ways we react when things
go wrong:
• Personal: I think I’m a failure; it’s all
my fault
• Pervasive: we go further... everything
I do is a failure
• Permanent: we end up thinking,
it will always be like this

How can we reverse the downward spiral?
Dr Cloud recommends three things:
1. Dispute negative thinking. Our
personal, pervasive and permanent
thoughts are often false. Name them,
write them down and challenge them
with the truth.
2. Get back control. Write a list of things
you can and can’t control. Act on what
you can control and don’t take
responsibility for what you can’t control.
3. Connect with others. When in a crisis,
having meaningful relationships is a
vital key.
Don’t live the way this
world lives. Let your way of
thinking be completely
changed.
(Romans 12:2)
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PHYSICAL
physical
W E L L B E I N G
Exercise, good sleep and healthy eating
all contribute to our physical wellbeing.
And, as Steve Uppal says on The
Wellbeing Journey, ‘You can’t just
separate physical wellbeing from
everything else. It has a direct impact on
mental and emotional health as well.’
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Steve knows from experience. ‘I was out of
control and suffering from lack of energy,
and disturbed sleep.’ He lost 5st (32kg) by
exercising and eating less processed food.
He cut out fast food and fizzy drinks first.
He recommends ‘Small steps in the right
direction made over time add huge
benefits to our lives.’
Rugby player Jamie Jones-
Buchanan says track your
physical activity and make
yourself accountable. What
works best for you – an app, a
diary, reminders from a friend?
I pray that you may
enjoy good health
and that all may go
well with you.
(3 John 2, NIVUK)
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PHYSICAL
sleep
+ EAT W E L L
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‘I like being a GP because we deal with
people holistically...when one part is failing
it affects the other parts of our wellbeing.’
Dr Nkiru Oluwatosin

‘When we sleep our bodies go into a
restorative mode – we are able to function
better and have our strength replenished,’
says GP Dr Nkiru Oluwatosin. For good
sleep, avoid screens, caffeine and alcohol
before bedtime, she says, and follow the
NHS Eat Well guide for a healthy,
balanced diet.
Set a realistic goal, share
it with others and then
get started. Don’t be
discouraged if you fail. Keep
going – it will be worth it!
You created the deepest
parts of my being. You put
me together inside my
mother’s body. How you made
me is amazing and wonderful.
I praise you for that.
King David (Psalm 139:13-14)
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EMOTIONAL
emotional
W E L L B E I N G
Hope is the thing we need to pick up on
in moments when life feels bad. The
research seems to suggest that hopeful
people believe four things:
• The future is better
• That you and I have a contribution to
make to bring about that better future
• There are loads of ways of getting there
• All these ways involve frustration,
difficulty and effort in some way
That makes hope different from optimism.
Psychologist Dr Roger Bretherton,
University of Lincoln
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‘Push down emotion; project false
strength and hopefully get through by
being a closed book – that’s not helpful’
says Will van der Hart, director of the Mind
and Soul Foundation. ‘Instead find people
who want to listen non-judgmentally; who
give you the opportunity to articulate how
you feel with helpful questioning.’
Nothing at all can ever
separate us from God’s love.
That’s because of what Christ
Jesus our Lord has done.
(Romans 8:39)
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EMOTIONAL
gratitude ATTITUDE
When Wellbeing Journey presenter
Simon Thomas’s wife died suddenly,
Simon and his young son Ethan had to
work through a range of emotions.
They made a ‘gratitude jar’ and added
a note every day about something
they were grateful for. ‘It is worth
reminding ourselves that, even when
we go through tough times, there is
stuff to be grateful for,’ says Simon.
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‘Being present’ is very much in vogue
today, often linked to the term
‘mindfulness’. The Christian approach to
being mindful includes this call to be
present to ourselves but [also] to the God
who is always present to us. It is about
learning, along with the psalmist, to ‘be
still and know that I am God’ (Psalm
46:10).’ Dr Dave Smith in God's Plan For
Your Wellbeing
Always give thanks to God
the Father for everything. Give
thanks to him in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Ephesians 5:20)
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SPIRITUAL
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spiritual
W E L L B E I N G
‘God loves you and wants to know you.
God made himself knowable through the
person of Jesus – that is God come to
earth, fully alive and fully well. To be fully
well is to invite Jesus – God made
knowable – to meet you and fill you with
his Spirit.’ Bible teacher and student
leader Miriam Swanson

‘The reality of faith is that sometimes it is
like wrestling. There’s a verse in the Bible
that says “You will seek me and you will
find me when you seek me with all your
heart…” I don’t think God is trying to make
it difficult for us. But he wants partnership
with us.’ Pete Greig, instigator of the 24-7
Prayer movement
God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only
Son. Anyone who believes in
him will not die but will
have eternal life.
(John 3:16)
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SPIRITUAL
A R E Y O U
thirsty?
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Jesus broke first century social taboos and
asked a woman for a drink of water. It led
to a conversation about quenching
spiritual thirst. Jesus said: ‘Anyone who
drinks the water I give them will never be
thirsty. In fact, the water I give them will
become a spring of water in them. It will
flow up into eternal life.’
The conversation was reported by one of
Jesus’ closest friends, a man called John
who wrote an eye-witness account of
Jesus’ life. You can read the whole story
in the Bible book of John chapter 4.
In the fifth century, Saint
Augustine famously said:
You [God] have made us for
yourself, and our hearts
are restless, until they can
find rest in you.
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SPIRITUAL
‘God speaks to everybody.
There are no favourites; no special people.’
Pastor Agu Irukwu
TA K E
time out
Simon Thomas’s take-home lesson from
The Wellbeing Journey came from talking
to Pastor Agu Irukwu, UK leader of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God: ‘It was
a reminder that developing our relationship
with God means carving out time, being
disciplined when it comes to listening to
him. It doesn’t mean everything becomes
easy but some of the other areas in life –
our emotional wellbeing, our finances, our
jobs – do become easier to manage even
if they aren’t going particularly well.’
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Pastor Agu: How to hear from God
1. Firstly, show up. Set a time and get
into a pattern of meeting with God.
2. Secondly, study the Bible. Create time
to read, study and meditate on the
Word of God.
3. Then intentionally develop a
relationship with God’s Holy Spirit.
Since he’s the one who’s going to do
the speaking – it’s through his Spirit to
my spirit that God speaks – so we
should pay attention to him.
Simon described the experience of hearing
from God as ‘rocket fuel’ and ‘a rudder’ for
life and Pastor Agu agreed: ‘My life unravels
once that part of my life is out of sync.’
Call to me and
I will answer...
God’s words in the Bible,
(Jeremiah 33:3)
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RELATIONAL
relational
W E L L B E I N G
‘We need people to help us survive,
especially when we are young and
vulnerable. But we need relationships to
thrive in terms of our emotional wellbeing.
We can take for granted that the
relationships we have will automatically
be good, but “no investment, no return”.
At times my clients got the best of me, but
my family got the dregs. It’s important to
never take those intimate relationships for
granted.’ Motivational speaker and bestselling
author Paul McGee – the Sumo Guy.
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‘The grass is always greener when it’s
watered.’ How can we invest in our
relationships?
Paul McGee – the Sumo Guy
Jesus not only modelled the need for
community, but he set up a community
that we could all be a part of: the Church.
While not everyone has the privilege of
a close, healthy, nuclear family, all of us
can discover and develop community
within the context of a local church
– the family of God.
Be kind and tender
to one another.
Forgive one another.
(Ephesians 4:32)
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RELATIONAL
‘We are hard-wired for a
relationship with God and
relationships with other people.’
Dr Rachel Jordan-Wolf, HOPE Together
L E A R N T O
forgive
Paul McGee says, ‘Forgiveness is not
actually for the benefit of others; it is
ultimately to benefit you... Life can leave
you bitter or it can make you better. It’s a
choice. When we punish someone else for
what they’ve done to us, we punish
ourselves even more.’
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‘It is not good for us to be alone. We all
need other people – people to connect
with; people who know us. Social media
can’t be everything we need relationally.’
Liverpool vicar Kate Wharton, author of
Single Minded: Being single and whole
and living life to the full.
Find your delight in the Lord.
Then he will give you everything
your heart really wants.
(Psalm 37:4).
Our seeking will lead to finding,
as God increasingly reveals himself
to us, satisfying our deep spiritual
thirst in a way that only he can.
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FINANCIAL
financial
W E L L B E I N G
‘We can do so much with our
money when we have the
right attitude towards it.’
Roy Crowne, HOPE Together
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Worries about money are one of the
main causes of stress. Instead of huge
financial anxiety and stress, imagine living
in financial peace: having a margin each
month, with opportunities to save for the
future and to give generously to help
others in need.
John Kirkby from Christians Against
Poverty (CAP) asks: ‘Have you got a
budget? Have you worked out what your
income is; your regular expenditure; the
things you want to save up for? A budget
is the cornerstone of great finances. Then
decide what’s important to you. How you
use your money reflects who you are.’
Don’t worry about
anything. No matter
what happens, tell God
about everything.
(Philippians 4:6)
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FINANCIAL
counting
T H E C O S T
Alan and Julie found help from CAP
when their debts were out of control.
They said: ‘CAP worked out what we
could afford to pay each month. Then
they went to all our creditors and worked
out a plan for us. It took about 18 months
to pay everything off. We are now debt
free! It’s like a huge weight off our
shoulders. We can get up in the morning
without worrying about the day.’
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Practical action
1. Assess where you’re at financially.
2. Develop a budget. Know what you can
afford to spend. Don’t exceed it.
3. Do everything you can to stay out
of debt.
4. Avoid impulse spending.
5. Cultivate a habit of thankfulness for
what you do have, rather than focusing
on what you don’t have.
Earn all you can, give all
you can, save all you can.
John Wesley, the 18th century
preacher and co-founder of the
Methodist Church
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VOCATIONAL
vocational
W E L L B E I N G
‘The Japanese word ikigai translates as “a reason
for being” or “the reason for which you wake up
in the morning”. Being clear on our ikigai or life
purpose is crucial for our wellbeing. Studies have
shown that those with a stronger sense of
purpose tend to act in ways that increase their
physical and mental wellbeing.’ Dr Dave Smith.
What
you are
GOOD AT
PASSION
PROFESSION
What you
LOVE
IKIGAI
MISSION
VOCATION
What the
world
NEEDS
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What you can be
PAID FOR

When Joanna asked Dave Smith about
how to find a vocation, he said, ‘Ask
yourself what you’re good at. What do you
enjoy doing? When you’re involved in this
particular task, do you feel bored and
distracted or do you lose all sense of time?
Sometimes when you are doing what you
were called to do, it can be hard…
sometimes it just feels like fun.’
We are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do
good works, which God
prepared in advance for
us to do.
(Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
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VOCATIONAL
L I V E
purposefully
‘If you want to know why you were placed
on this planet, you must begin with God.
You were born by his purpose and for his
purpose... until you understand that, life
will never make sense. It is only in God
that we discover our origin, our identity,
our meaning, our purpose, our
significance, and our destiny. Every other
path leads to a dead end.’ Rick Warren
in The Purpose Driven Life
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‘It’s a mixture of understanding who we
are and being aware of God being with
us on the journey. There will be
opportunities; there might be
disappointments, but we are not on this
journey alone... We walk this way once
and we can make a difference.’ Jill
Garrett, Tentpeg Consulting
Make a careful exploration of who
you are and the work you have been
given, and then sink yourself into that.
Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t
compare yourself with others. Each of you
must take responsibility for doing the
creative best you can with your own life.
(Galatians 6:4-5 The Message)
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T I M E F O R
action
If this is the first time that you have
realised that God has a plan for your
wellbeing, how will you respond to his
invitation to a flourishing abundant life?
‘This is a journey – more like a
marathon than a sprint. Be
kind to yourself; don’t try to
fix everything at once. Find
the one key thing that you
can do, that might have an
impact across different areas
of your life.’ Dr Dave Smith
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P R AY E R O Finvitation
If you are not yet on this journey with
Jesus, you can invite him to come into
your life today. You could use this prayer:
Lord Jesus,
I admit my need of you and invite you to
come and forgive me for living my own
way so far. I believe that you died and
rose again so that I can receive new joy,
purpose, hope and wellbeing. Please
come into my life and fill me with your
Holy Spirit. I commit to follow you and
your ways all the days of my life.
Amen!
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H E L P F O R T H E
journey
This booklet is based on The Wellbeing
Journey devised by Dr Dave Smith and
produced for HOPE Together and
KingsGate Church, Peterborough, by Fruit
Media. The presenters are Joanna Adeyinka
and Simon Thomas. Dave’s book, God’s
Plan For Your Wellbeing (Waverley Abbey
Resources), is a 50-day guide to the journey.
Find out more about The Wellbeing
Journey at wellbeingjourney.org
Don’t try to travel alone. Millions of
followers of Jesus meet together
regularly – often in a church building.
Find out more about following Jesus
at a church near you.
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Words: Catherine Butcher
Design: Darren Southworth,
s2.design 020 8771 9108
Print: Belmont Press Ltd
Copyright: HOPE Together
Order more copies of this booklet at
hopetogether.org.uk/shop
Bible quotations are from the New International
Reader’s Version unless otherwise stated.
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version
(NIrV), Anglicised Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998,
2014 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved
worldwide.
Together
in partnership with
Hope For Every Home
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I know the plans I have for you,’
announces the Lord. ‘I want you
to enjoy success. I do not plan to
harm you. I will give you hope for
the years to come.
(The Bible, Jeremiah 29:11)
Together