We live is a society that loves achievement, qualifications and success.
Many people work extremely hard to get there – often ignoring the warning signs that their bodies are giving them. In this fast paced and driven world if you stopped and asked your self ‘What do I actually have to give?’ the answer is often ‘Not much!’.
When your energy goes on surviving there isn’t much left at the end of the day for thriving.
But, what is the point of success when you feel overwhelmed, fatigued and don’t have any time to spend with family and friends or doing the things that you love? Or you are grumpy and tired when you do see them!
Self care is often viewed as a luxury, high achievers are pre-programmed that they should just push through if they stand a chance at being successful. Over time this often creates stress, anxiety or illness. When you are managing a long term health issue and trying to live, work and raise a family then something often has to give. And, that something is usually self-care.
We often operate from patterns which we have created from our past life experiences and keep acting in the same ways without realising it. The first thing to do is to stop and re-calibrate, address self-care; unplug from technology, have some fun, practice mindfulness. (Download the checklist for more ideas). Then recognise the patterns that are helping you and contribute to your goals and let go of the ones that aren’t serving you anymore.
Balance and self care starts with YOU. You need to learn to focus on you, to be aware of what you want, what you don’t and to learn to love yourself well.
When you have balance, you can divide your time and energy across all areas of your life, ensuring an appropriate focus on family, learning, spirituality, and career, etc and nurturing your overall wellness. Priorities are an important part of developing a balanced life so energy can be divided in a logical way and the important things can get done.
However, when balance falters, parts of your life remain unnourished. They begin to fail, impacting other areas, and overall wellbeing. You begin to burn out and your health can suffer.
When you have a chronic illness, maintaining balance while managing your health condition can feel like an impossible task, it is easy to resort to different coping strategies just to try to manage your symptoms, hospital and doctors appointments let alone try to work and live. If you step back and look at your life, you can often see the warning signals — overeating, over-drinking, lethargy, stress and irritability they are all are signals that change is needed.
The good news is if you recognise them then you can do something about it! You have what it takes to make your life more complete. So, perhaps, most surprisingly, the crucial takeaway is not that you have the potential to put in place a routine of self-care, but that you deserve it.
Download the free self care checklist here
