Filling my cup and a top 10 list for self care.
Today I was able to have a long over-due visit with a very sweet friend. I was able to do this because I decided that Josiah could and should do the Friday added day at school called Kinder care. I had to pay extra for it but especially on days like today, it was worth it. I'm trusting I can scrounge up the extra $$$. Friday Kinder care is super fun. He says there is no work and they play all day. Interactive, brain-stimulating, endorphin-releasing, confidence-building play. Yes. and Amen. He is bored at home with me since I often need to do some documentation on Fridays, and emails, and running errands like getting groceries......playing with a classroom full of other 5 year olds is way more fun!
My sweet friend and I have not been able to sit together and share about our lives for awhile. We both talked a lot and cried a bit and prayed together. My empty cup began to fill and fill and fill.....and hopefully hers did too. We are both busy moms with lots of activities and relationships and responsibilities. We both have natural gifts and talents, but also areas where we struggle as women, as moms, as wives, as daughters of the most High God. As my cup was filling up, I marveled at how smart God was to give me friends. Especially friends like her. We are more different than the same and yet in that sacred space today, we were one and the same....and I am feeling very, very blessed.
In our conversation, we talked about self care and how to fill our cup so that we are full and equipped to pour out all day long. Self care is something I am pretty good at, but also something that often slips past me when the uphill battle of my days gets away from me. Self care matters. It allows me to take care of me so that I can be ready to take care of others. It allows me to not sit and wait for Roger to get home and fix things, or take over, or whatever. Roger can just come home and let go of his busy, uphill day full of activities and relationships and responsibilities.....
I want to offer up some self-care ideas that I have used and that work for me. Feel free to try them. If you want help, you know how to find me. I am a woman, wife, mom, friend, nurse, healer.....self-care heals much.
1. Get more sleep. If you have children who wake up frequently, schedule time for a nap. I did that whenever I could for about 15 years.....and now my children sleep at night and so do I. It is blissful. If you want some sleep tips, you know how to find me.
2. Buy more fruits and veggies. Eat the rainbow. If you don't know how to cook with something, Allrecipes.com has lots of ideas. Or. You know how to find me. :)
3. Schedule time in your day for some kind of exercise. I had high hopes and then had a foot injury and so now I am just trying to grab 20-30 minutes here and there for a quick walk outside. Every little bit helps.
4. Learn the 4 second breathing technique. Breathe in for 4 seconds. Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Exhale for 4 seconds. Wait for 4 seconds. Repeat. Do this throughout the day when anxiety creeps up.
5. Whenever possible, have someone come in to clean your house, get a massage, get your nails done, get your hair done, or go shopping for something new in your wardrobe. Some call it retail therapy....but I am 50 years old so it's merely maintenance.
6. Plan a retreat day. A mental health day. Take a few hours or an entire day and take a journal, bible, some music, a camera....get out in nature and just....be. If you need help with this, I also have ideas. You know how to find me.
7. Cry.
8. Give yourself permission to see a counselor or take medication for whatever feelings need to be managed......
9. Take the focus off self and shift the focus to blessing others. Bake cookies for a neighbor. Write an encouraging note. Thank your parents. Take a college kid to church....use your imagination. The sky is the limit as far as how to bless people. (In that vein, also donating diapers, formula, food, etc. to local ministries also makes you feel really good.......and if you want to really shift your focus, talk to me about being matched with a local family and provide relationship, love, "sponsorship", transportation, whatever need there is......
10. Pray. Start with gratitude. Then tell God how amazing He is. Then lay it all out there for Him. Warts and all.....lightning will NOT strike you dead if you tell him you are pissed off at the way things are going and you do not like the current plan. I promise. I'm living proof. He will listen. He is not a vending machine so you can't say the magic prayer and get what you want...but if you need to plunk the coins in anyway and try just go for it. He can handle it. He is.....God. Pray and pray and pray. Have the conversation with Him. If you can find the space....listen. If not.....you know how to find me. I'll try help. I'm always working this out too.
My sweet friend and I have not been able to sit together and share about our lives for awhile. We both talked a lot and cried a bit and prayed together. My empty cup began to fill and fill and fill.....and hopefully hers did too. We are both busy moms with lots of activities and relationships and responsibilities. We both have natural gifts and talents, but also areas where we struggle as women, as moms, as wives, as daughters of the most High God. As my cup was filling up, I marveled at how smart God was to give me friends. Especially friends like her. We are more different than the same and yet in that sacred space today, we were one and the same....and I am feeling very, very blessed.
In our conversation, we talked about self care and how to fill our cup so that we are full and equipped to pour out all day long. Self care is something I am pretty good at, but also something that often slips past me when the uphill battle of my days gets away from me. Self care matters. It allows me to take care of me so that I can be ready to take care of others. It allows me to not sit and wait for Roger to get home and fix things, or take over, or whatever. Roger can just come home and let go of his busy, uphill day full of activities and relationships and responsibilities.....
I want to offer up some self-care ideas that I have used and that work for me. Feel free to try them. If you want help, you know how to find me. I am a woman, wife, mom, friend, nurse, healer.....self-care heals much.
1. Get more sleep. If you have children who wake up frequently, schedule time for a nap. I did that whenever I could for about 15 years.....and now my children sleep at night and so do I. It is blissful. If you want some sleep tips, you know how to find me.
2. Buy more fruits and veggies. Eat the rainbow. If you don't know how to cook with something, Allrecipes.com has lots of ideas. Or. You know how to find me. :)
3. Schedule time in your day for some kind of exercise. I had high hopes and then had a foot injury and so now I am just trying to grab 20-30 minutes here and there for a quick walk outside. Every little bit helps.
4. Learn the 4 second breathing technique. Breathe in for 4 seconds. Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Exhale for 4 seconds. Wait for 4 seconds. Repeat. Do this throughout the day when anxiety creeps up.
5. Whenever possible, have someone come in to clean your house, get a massage, get your nails done, get your hair done, or go shopping for something new in your wardrobe. Some call it retail therapy....but I am 50 years old so it's merely maintenance.
6. Plan a retreat day. A mental health day. Take a few hours or an entire day and take a journal, bible, some music, a camera....get out in nature and just....be. If you need help with this, I also have ideas. You know how to find me.
7. Cry.
8. Give yourself permission to see a counselor or take medication for whatever feelings need to be managed......
9. Take the focus off self and shift the focus to blessing others. Bake cookies for a neighbor. Write an encouraging note. Thank your parents. Take a college kid to church....use your imagination. The sky is the limit as far as how to bless people. (In that vein, also donating diapers, formula, food, etc. to local ministries also makes you feel really good.......and if you want to really shift your focus, talk to me about being matched with a local family and provide relationship, love, "sponsorship", transportation, whatever need there is......
10. Pray. Start with gratitude. Then tell God how amazing He is. Then lay it all out there for Him. Warts and all.....lightning will NOT strike you dead if you tell him you are pissed off at the way things are going and you do not like the current plan. I promise. I'm living proof. He will listen. He is not a vending machine so you can't say the magic prayer and get what you want...but if you need to plunk the coins in anyway and try just go for it. He can handle it. He is.....God. Pray and pray and pray. Have the conversation with Him. If you can find the space....listen. If not.....you know how to find me. I'll try help. I'm always working this out too.
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