Good Morning!

 “Whatever in your life gives you joy and happiness just for you, do it. Everyone around you will notice if you are happy, healthy, joyful, and positive.” —Cristen, a reader

I received a wonderful email on self-care from Cristen that I wanted to share with you.

Don’t forget to make sure you are “feeding” yourself, first. Someone reminded me recently that we have to make sure our needs are being met before we can effectively give to others. In my industry, we are taught not to rush in to help someone in crisis until we make sure we are safe ourselves.

Here is the scenario for the analogy: one person is overcome by oxygen-deficiency. A coworker, seeing the person collapse, will rush to help them and become overcome themselves, thus requiring rescue efforts for two people versus the original one person. The training we receive tells us to stop and secure our own safety, i.e. put on a respirator, before attempting to go help and becoming another hazard to the rescue personnel, thereby putting them into greater danger also.

Please, everyone, take a moment to think about what you are doing to protect, feed, and nourish yourself while you are in the midst of helping everyone around you. If we collapse from mental/physical/emotional exhaustion, who will take care of them? Whatever in your life gives you joy and happiness just for you, do it. Everyone around you will notice if you are happy, healthy, joyful, and positive. Conversely, if you are depressed, anxious, nervous, or upset, that will also overflow onto everyone you come into contact with during your journey.

I had to learn to be a little selfish in order to be happy. I was trained to sacrifice myself for the good of my family, but I got to the point that I wasn’t happy and, as the old saying goes, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” That is truth!

Now, scheduled into my day are three things: 1) my Good Mornings and Nightly Reflection; 2) (most) every night I read for about twenty to thirty minutes. Something just for me. 3) workout time, and, once a week, I go to a class just for me. No kids are invited to go with me! Out of a twenty-four-hour day, I spend maybe one-and-a-half hours total on ensuring my wellbeing (the biggest chunk goes to working out.) It was really hard to make it a priority at first, but I am seeing the benefits.

Because I schedule it, I am more likely to stick to it. Out of our abundance, we are able to give joyfully, not grudgingly.

Your Turn: What do you need to do to increase your self-care? Divide a piece of paper into two columns. On the left, list out all the ways you have not been caring for yourself in the past thirty days. Where are you coming up short? How are you helping others, without helping yourself? On the right column, list a positive action step you can take in each area. Then, schedule some time in your catch-all-notebook to do just that.

Today’s Affirmation: I know that caring for others begins by caring for myself.