I’ve been away for the weekend in Ireland, and not much sleep was had…today it’s hit me like a train, and all I want to do is eat junk food and watch X Factor! But I have a huge to do list…what do I do?
Well, I could push myself to do what I need to do. I could keep going, getting more and more tired and depleting my dwindling reserves of energy yet more. I could try to make my woolly brain think and produce work that’s unlikely to be usable. I could take twice as long as I normally do to do my work and end the day wiped out and ready to feel just as bad tomorrow.
Just like millions of people do every day. We cope, we manage, we live on adrenaline, we keep going and going and going, and we never, ever let anyone down. Except perhaps ourselves. By ignoring those little signs- the physical exhaustion, the low energy, the woolly mind, the drained spirit, the heavy emotions, we do ourselves a disservice. It’s like noticing your fuel guage is on empty and expecting the car to run on fumes. It won’t.
At some point, it will break down. So will you. Desperate for rest, your body will give you more and more urgent signs until you heed them. And if you don’t, your body will break down and become ill.
I know it’s difficult to make self-care a priority – we have so many demands on our time and attention, and many of us can’t just take an afternoon off to watch trashy tv and eat junk (not that eating junk is particularly good self-care, but that’s a subject for another day!). We cannot just decide not to take care of our families if they’re not old enough to take care of themselves – it’s just not an option.
BUT there is always something we CAN do to care for ourselves. Taking a lunch break, finishing work on time, having an early night, making (or ordering in) an easy dinner, delegating tasks to colleagues and family, doing only what genuinely HAS to be done and leaving the busy work alone. I know you will say that there are 100 excuses for you not being able to take care of yourself.
It’s your health.
And trust me, you don’t want your health to force you into a situation where you cannot do anything. You are no use to your family or your boss if you are poorly sick. Taking care of yourself means you have more to give others, it means you teach others how to care for you, it means you teach them it’s ok to take care of themselves too. You don’t want the next generation to grow up thinking it’s “right” to work themselves into the ground. It’s not.
Anyway, I’m off to watch trashy tv and scoff chocolate. I hope you will take the time this week to listen to what your body needs and DO IT. Take care of your one and only body. If it breaks down, you can’t just get a new one!
What’s your body telling you right now? What is your body crying out for? What do you need? Don’t leave your care in someone else’s hands – YOU take care of YOU! Let me know how you’re going to take care of you this week, Leave me a comment below. Or pop over to my facebook page and leave a comment there.
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16 responses to “OnTheBeach: How Not To Get Sick”
Hope you feel better for some lovely self-care Samantha! Congratulations for doing the honourable thing for yourself! xx
Oh yes! The message finally sank in for me when I spent about 4 hours trying to write a blog post one day, then gave up and had an early night. The next day I felt better, and came back to the blog post…and it took me 10 minutes!!! x
This is perfect timing for me! I can feel a cold coming on, and I have done the very thing you said ….it’s morning and I have gone back to bed with a cup of tea to just enjoy reading some gentle and supportive posts :-). I used to push on, and go to work unwell, and think it was somehow the honourable thing to do. Working from home is a blessing on days like this, as at least I can slow right down. You are so right about this, thanks for sharing.
Very true. I’ve noticed too, that if I heed the signal to chill out and rest for an hour or a day, as much as possible, I will then come back renewed – and what I was struggling to do will flow from my fingers.
Thanks Jodi. The irony is that when we put self-care to the top of the list, the rest of the list is much easier and faster to get done! x
Great reminder! Self care often gets put at the bottom of my own list, and it’s so important to bump it to the top! Today I took an hour away from the “to dos” and went to the park with my husband. It was wonderful and I felt so refreshed when I came home. 🙂
Thanks Cassandra! xx
Thanks Mary! I love that – victorian style snoozes. xxx
I plan on moving my body this week. I haven’t exercised in two weeks! I can definitely feel the tension and all the fuzz getting twisted inside. It’s so important to listen our bodies and actually follow through with what it advises us. Great post, Donna!
Great reminder I actually in great victorian style, took to my bed & slept friday afternoon , once the kids were fed and settled after school and the other half came home I went & slept for 2 hours during the day and had an early night on saturday after weeks of a hectic crazy work schedule of silly o clock late nights trying to finish things . Having that awareness & listening to our bodies is so important & vital for our health . Having systems in place to support us is also important and can ease the pressure. Great post .
Thanks Sibylle, I did! I got 4 seasons in one day! But the weather was no worse than here, so it’s ok!
Absolutely – I know my office job led me to being diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome over 10 years ago. Now, I don’t know how I’d get on with working for someone who wouldn’t let me sleep when I need to!
May you have work that allows you to honour yourself in every moment.
x
Lol – no Nancy, that doesn’t sound overly restful! Have a cut off time and a routine that is more relaxing. Mine is (generally, I don’t stick to it every day!): after 10, the TV is off, I go outside with the dog and enjoy some calm, stargazing time if the sky is clear, then read my book for a bit. Aaaand sleep! x
Absolutely Nora – there are better things for self-care than chocolate and tv. In fact, when that’s what I’m craving, I know the wheels have fallen off the self-care wagon! x
First of all: I hope you had a great time in Ireland :-))) And caught some of the slightly less awful weather we’ve been having recently!
I love this post, it’s so very important – and you know what, these insights are part of the reason why I don’t want to stay in an office job forever. It forces me to do this to myself too often, especially me with my light sleep who’s often kept awake by small amounts of noise in the main house or the neighbourhood. I don’t want to make myself run on empty anymore. I want to take a nap when I need to, be gentle with myself and by doing this, actually get some productive hours into an otherwise tired day.
This needs to be read by so many people, especially women!
Having just been dealing with a cold this past week, I hear you loud and clear! I know I need to make sleep a higher priority (I always appreciate it and want to get some, but tend to get caught up in other things in the evening and then kick myself all the way to bed. It’s not exactly an ideal system!).
YES. We definitly need to listen to our body and our soul and need to take outtimes. I just today wrote for my own blog about it – it will be published tomorrow. Its about what to do when we feel exhausted. And although I focus on other and deeper self-care practises then chocolate and tv – I forgot to mention in the post that before I could go back to my prefered heal-exhaustion-and-everything is too- much and I want to be hold- emergency kit I spend my time with easy to prepare food and tv and drawing with my child 🙂