Most people acknowledge physical health and emotional health is important. Is it possible there is a third element of equal importance?
I had lunch today with a former colleague of mine, Ron Gambassi, who has a financial consulting business. I shared with him that many times I feel overwhelmed when working on my personal finances and planning…am I doing enough, what should I investigate, what should I do? Ron told me many of his clients feel anxiety, and sometimes even paralysis, especially the educated, career-oriented women. This, of course, made me feel a little better (Thanks, Ron). He then mentioned he thinks of it as a 3-legged stool: one leg is physical health, one leg is emotional health and the third leg is financial health. Ultimately, a person needs all 3 legs to have balanced health.
Now that was thought-provoking, and sure made sense to me.
Is it easier to have a healthy body if one has financial health — access to good healthcare (not trying to start a political discussion here), fresh food, clean water, and a safe environment for exercise?
Is it easier to have strong emotional health when one does not feel financial stress?
This definitely has me pondering, and I’m curious…what do you think? Do you think financial health is an essential part of balanced health?
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Please share, as I’d like to explore this further.
Bicycles and Blueberries 
I think there is no question that financial problems impact my physical health and the way I feel, just as stress of any kind impacts my physical and emotional health. I don’t know that my personal three-legged stool would include financial health, but I can see what he’s getting at.
Mary, thanks for the comment. I have had a few different friends comment about the post (comment F2F, not via the blog) and I think there is a 50/50 split. About 1/2 of them think their 3-legged stool might include financial health, and the other half feel like there is something else that would make up their 3rd leg. Thanks again for commenting!
-Susan