Taking Care of You!

I Was Thinking…

Take care of you! I have to say I don’t do “it” well. I take care of everyone and everything else before I get to me. It used to define me…I used to be proud of this way of thinking. I really thought it made me a good mom, wife, daughter, friend, employee and volunteer. I’ve learned maybe the before part is a mistake.  

Typically, I used the left-over time and energy I had to take care of me…and I’ve got to tell you there wasn’t much left! Lots of times there was nothing left! Sure, every now and then I’d go to a “Mom’s Night Out” or a class, but that was after I had every meal made and ready for while I was gone, the schedule all laid out and everything in place to prop up each one of my family members in order to assure success.  By the time I got there, I was exhausted!  Don’t get me wrong; it IS extremely important to get away, but I think we also have to learn to take care of us right in the middle of it all! 

I started to put more time into reading a couple of years back. I love to read. I especially love to learn. So I ended up reading anything about trauma, abandonment, the brain and so on. I love to talk about all of this stuff too so I started talking to anyone who would listen….you can see where that has gotten me. It fills me up – at least emotionally!  

Now, I need to concentrate on the physical piece. I have done the eating and exercising in fits and starts along this journey. However, I have never done it very well! I have decided that I need to really dig deep and be even more intentional about taking care of me in that way! I want to have a healthy body. I want to live a long time! This journey has been very hard on me physically and emotionally. It is high time I MAKE A CHANGE!  
           
SO, watch me friends, cause here I go! My new focus is to eat right, exercise, rest, listen to music, take baths…personal stuff. Those things that fill us up! That energize us. Help us be creative and think clearly.  I don’t think we can help to heal others very well if we are broken or empty ourselves.
 
My hope in writing this down is two-fold…It will motivate me to keep my commitment to myself because I have said it out loud and it may motivate all of you to shift your focus and take care of YOU too!