I talk to so many women who are helpers, doers, and really genuinely concerned about the well-being of others. These are all great things, there is nothing wrong with any of them. However, these same women are tired, stressed, overwhelmed, anxious and lonely. These women also feel like taking time out for themselves is selfish. Do you relate to this type woman, or maybe this describes you perfectly? Do you spend your waking minutes managing other people’s schedules along with your own? Make sure your family gets where they need to go? Provide meals and snacks assuring everyone is well fed? Stay late at work to help out coworkers? Have to do lists for home, work, family, volunteer responsibilities? At the end of the day, do you feel like you have nothing left to give? Do you struggle with fitting in exercising, reading, time with friends, or other enjoyable activities?
How to get out of the rut?
So how do we get out of this overwhelmed, unbalanced rut? The key for caretakers, in any capacity, is self-care. This can be a hard concept for those who are so used to taking care of everyone else around them. Self-care being an unselfish act seems contradictory. Let’s look at how self-care can actually benefit those around you.
How do you feel after you have taken a hot bath or shower? What about after your workout or go for a run or walk? What are you feeling after a night out with friends? Or a phone conversation with someone close to you? Feelings like relaxation, relief, and joy come to mind, among many others. How would those you help benefit if you were more relaxed, less stressed and more joyful. Do you think it would make a difference in your interpersonal relationships? Although any of those activities could be seen as selfish on their own, we really are better people, and more relatable when we take time to take care of ourselves.
You are not alone if you struggle to find time to care for themselves. The problem is what do we do about it? There doesn’t seem to be time in the day to fit in an hour of self-care. How do we fit self-care into our lives? Read next week for simple, quick ways to weave self-care into your every day life.
Tell me, do you relate to struggling to find time for self-care? Leave a comment to share a piece of your story.
Watch our video on self-care:
https://youtu.be/0Oo5ycVtBss
Recent Comments