Health and wellness, two related, yet different, realms of general well-being, have been growing popularity in recent years. Trends including diets/healthy eating, exercise, essential oils, meditation, minimalism, caffeine detoxes, juice cleanses, etc., have seemingly dominated the multiple media realms for some time. But do you know the difference between the two? Blurred lines and gray areas are common when talking about these subjects.

Health

By definition, health is, "the general condition of the body or mind; freedom from disease or ailment." Health and medicine go hand-in-hand, even though the definition of health goes beyond the scope of medical ideology. The World Health Organization states health is, "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." A person can be physically healthy, emotionally healthy, mentally healthy, and even socially healthy. More often than not, we view health as something that only applies to our physical state.

This is where it becomes easy to associate wellness with medicine. However, wellness is not the same as medicine. Medicine is the science of reducing disease and death in hopes of increasing the chance for a long and healthy life. Wellness is simply the effort one puts forth to ensure a healthy, fulfilling life.

Wellness

Wellness is defined as, "the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort." Wellness is a way for us to actively make a conscious effort to live healthier lives. We cannot always choose our health; high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a predisposition toward diabetes are largely genetic. Wellness is something we can always choose. We can choose to exercise, eat healthily, visit the doctor, take vitamins, strengthen mental and emotional health, and work on social skills.

Even though none of us will be in "perfect" health, an effort to maintain healthy habits makes us feel better, which will positively impact other areas of life.

Exercise, meditate and eat healthily. Use those essential oils and do a juice cleanse. A collaboration of both health and wellness will send you down a positive path, trust me.

Read the inspiration for this article here.