LIFESTYLE consists of seven elements: faith, family, nature, order, adventure, experience, and leisure. Faith is the central element, where individual belief or trust in God or some higher power determines the type of behaviour that is considered to be normal and desirable. Family is related to these beliefs, with the marriage being a fundamental part of the cycle of life. Nature refers to the basic needs of human beings for food, clothing, shelter and safety, while order represents the discipline required to maintain these needs and values.
According to the dictionary, the word “healthy living” means using or indulging one’s physical and mental abilities in a reasonable way. LIFESTYLE was first introduced by Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler in his famous article, The Case of Miss R, with the implied meaning of “a method of life suitable to a normal development”. LIFESTYLE is often used to identify the values and beliefs associated with the holistic theory of life, which is also called the philosophy of life. Adler believed that there must be a harmony between our body and soul, and that this must be reflected in our behavior.
In his classic paper, the EFC Scale of Positive Aspects and Extravagant Compulsive Factors, Dr. de Vie proposed the need for a balance between order and disorder, between order and chaos, between order and novelty, and between order and sexuality. According to de Vie, LIFESTYLE provides a guide to individual psychology by helping people discover their essential innermost values, their most authentic and realistic aspirations, their most cherished dreams, their deepest beliefs about themselves and about the world. This way of understanding a person is not limited to psychotherapy, but can also be explored through the use of LIFESTYLE and other related materials.
Max Weber’s early writings on the theme of LIFESTYLE often appeared in the forms of critical analysis of individualistic and collectivist forms of life, such as socialism, communism, and capitalism, and he sought to explain these phenomena by contrasting what he called the healthy lifestyle with what he called the unhealthy lifestyle. According to Weber, those forms of life were characterized by order, by balance, by proportion, by balance of yin and yang, and by longevity. By contrast, the unhealthy lifestyle was characterized by deviation from these principles, by excess, by decadence, by perversion, by silliness, by nonsense, and by irresponsibility. Weber suggested that the distinction between the healthy and the unhealthy could not be merely determined by identifying the values of the latter. Rather, the core of healthy and unhealthy lifestyles could be more fundamentally rooted in basic human traits.
The concept of LIFESTYLE has had a far-reaching influence on the thinking of both sociologists and psychologists since its publication. It has been used, in particular, to explain personality and social psychology. In the light of modern research, the “healthy” lifestyle can generally be described as a self-directed active lifestyle whereby people are actively involved in leading a satisfying and productive life. In contrast, the unhealthy lifestyle can be better understood as an inactive or an unengaged lifestyle in which people are passively involved in an idyllic existence that usually involves a degree of exploitation of others.
LIFESTYLE may have some limitations. People must be willing to accept the fact that, in order to make LIFESTYLE work, a lot of effort is needed. People must also be willing to change themselves, to accept the necessary changes in their lives, in their situations, and in the world in general. However, the fact remains that LIFESTYLE is a powerful tool for stress management, a powerful tool for achieving and maintaining the quality of your life. It is an ideal way to create and live the kind of lifestyle you want, a lifestyle that you will be able to be truly proud of.