As you know, I have been focused this year on wellness, which I see as a consistent balance of physical, mental, and spiritual feeling and action. My goal is to be relatively well-adjusted—and to help others adjust as best they can as well.
December and the year-end activities always include a time for personal reflection. We review our life in this season—in church, at home, and at work. And we make our New Year’s resolutions: We want to save money, to lose weight, to spend more time with family. All these reflect our need and deep desire for individual health and wellness.
Coming just a few weeks later, America’s national commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an extension of this call for reflection. But this reflection is of a different kind: It’s about our commitments, individually and collectively, to improving society for all.
The following excerpt is from Martin Luther King’s speech at Yale University on January 14, 1959, a speech that isn’t heard as often as some of his more famous addresses.
This speech offers an interesting viewpoint on the idea of being “well-adjusted.” In it, Dr. King reminds us that sometimes being unbalanced—even “maladjusted”—is exactly what’s most needed to effect meaningful change.
Here Yale students read his words, showing how this message still resonates today:
http://news.yale.edu/videos/martin-luther-king-jr-speaks-yale-1959
As you listen to the words, think about how you want to be maladjusted. I would love to hear your thoughts.