If the first half of your 2014 was anything like it was here at MINES, it was jam-packed with exciting changes and new prospects. But don’t worry if the year has not been as busy as you’d prefer since we still have nearly half a year of opportunity before 2015. So take a deep breath, relax, and continue to strive for balance and wellbeing in your life as we tackle Q3 together; but before we go forward, let’s look backwards for a moment.

As usual, “Bridging the Gap” aims to take everything MINES has been going on about for the last quarter and break down the topics and the connections that they have with one another, as well as your life and the lives of those around you, to make sure that the information we share can have the best possible impact on your view of wellbeing, and bring balance into your life every day. The second quarter of 2014 saw MINES introduce a whole host of new resources, inspirational stories, and wellbeing topics. Let’s start with the wellbeing topics first.

In April, we introduced all new wellbeing topics: intellectual and social wellbeing. While exploring these topics we looked at the importance of being mindful of the influence that your friends, family, and society in general have on your cognitive processes. Next, in May we continued our examination of intellectual wellbeing, this time looking at its connection with financial wellbeing. We looked at the complex implications these two topics have on each other on the individual as well as societal levels.Then in June, financial wellbeing carried over and was analyzed alongside social wellbeing. We looked at social circles and our financial statuses effect on one another as we interact in our social lives. Finally, earlier this month we linked physical wellbeing with a completely fresh topic, environmental wellbeing, prompting a look at our physical self and its place in the world around us.

As our readers have come to expect from our blog, last quarter was filled with a wide array of diverse content from all corners of the MINES Team. Dr. Robert Mines chimed in with posts on Overcoming Adversity, Compassion, and the Psychology of Diabetes. Marcia Kent’s ever-inspirational “reFrame” covered hikes up Mt. Kilimanjaro and how to get the most out of all 1,440 seconds in a day. One of our case managers, Heather DeKeyser, also contributed with a compelling look at resilience and its role in our lives as both an internal resource as well as a trait we look for in others to help guide us.

MINES has a whole assortment of thought-provoking, and inspirational content headed your way over the next few months. There are plenty more topics in the pipeline and connections to be made. On our blog you can look forward to many new stories and ideas starting right away with members of our BizPsych team taking a multi-angled look at questions and trends they see while training organizations on generational differences, with much more to come from the rest of MINES.

Whew! That’s about it for now but if you have questions or comments about this or anything else MINES is up to please let us know, we would love to hear from you. You can comment on our posts here or don’t forget to email us and let us know what is on your mind. See you next time!

To your total wellbeing

-The MINES Team