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As we have seen, the focus of medical care in our society has been shifting from curing disease to preventing disease—especially in terms of changing our many unhealthy behaviors, such as poor eating habits, smoking, and failure to exercise.The line of thought involved in this shift can be pursed further.Imagine a person who is about the right weight, but does not eat very nutritious foods, who feels OK but exercises only occasionally, and who has no chest pains or abnormal blood counts, but sleeps a lot and often feels tired. This person is not ill. He may not even be at risk for any particular disease. But we can imagine that this person could be a lot healthier.

The field of medicine has not traditionally distinguished between someone who is merely “not ill” and someone who is in excellent health and pays attention to the body's special needs. Both types have simply been called “well”.In recent years, however, some health specialists have begun to apply the terms “well” and “wellness” only to those who are actively attempting to maintain and improve their health. People who are well are concerned with nutrition and exercise, and they make a point of monitoring their body's condition. Most importantly, perhaps, people who are well take active responsibility for all matters related to their health. Even people who have a physical disease or handicap (缺陷) may be “well”， in this new sense, if they make an effort to maintain the best possible health they can in the face of their physical limitations.“Wellness” may perhaps best be viewed not as a state that people can achieve, but as an ideal that people can struggle for. People who are well are likely to be better able to resist disease and to fight disease when it strikes. And by focusing attention on healthy ways of living, the concept of wellness can have a beneficial influence on the ways in which people face the challenges of daily life.