Welcome to Self-Care Sundays!
On the first day of the week, it’s good to take inventory of our lives and make sure we’re taking care of ourselves, and not just all the other people in our lives. After all, if we don’t take care of ourselves, we won’t have anything left for anyone else.
I know. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way. When my husband had a catastrophic cancer diagnosis (non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with Central Nervous System involvement), I focused all of my time, energy, and emotions on helping him. I caught rare moments of time with our daughters, I continued to work full-time as often as possible, I single-parented while Pedro received treatment a thousand miles away. Most of all, I took absolutely no time to care for myself.
Indulgence vs. Self-Care
Don’t get me wrong. I indulged myself. Instead of eating healthy food, I consoled myself with ice-cream bars (the good kind). I took the elevator instead of the stairs. Even though I could have gone running every morning during Pedro’s lengthy hospital stays, I gave myself excuses. “The city is dangerous.” “Something might happen while you’re gone.” Instead of eating healthfully so that I could maintain my energy, I chose to live in a sugar-induced brain fog.
Worst of all, I let the circumstances of living out of a duffel bag in a hospital room interrupt my daily time with God. Instead, I solaced myself with bidding for things on E-Bay. Things I didn’t need.
So I get it. I understand the conflict of taking care of yourself when so many other people depend on you. It seemed indulgent, and so I ended up indulging myself instead. Self-care is NOT the same thing as indulgence. Rather than randomly rewarding myself with things that give me instant gratification, I really needed to form a plan of seeking mental, academic/artistic, physical, and spiritual wholeness.
MAPS for Life
As Bob Goff would say, we should always be in the process of becoming a better version of us (NOT trying to turn ourselves into someone else). But if we want to start the journey of becoming a better version of us, we need some sort of a road map—otherwise, it will take years, even decades, longer to experience change.
The important components of achieving wholeness (a better version of us) include:
Mental—we need to learn how to productively process our emotions and responses to the world around us.
Academic/Artistic—we all have a need to learn and express ourselves.
Physical—if we take care of our bodies by eating well and exercising, we can better cope with the trials of life.
Spiritual—we all have spiritual longings, and if we deny them, we stunt our growth as a person.
It doesn’t take hours each day to get on track to healthy self-care. In fact, in as little as 25 minutes a day (and not all at once), you can start your journey to wholeness.
That’s where I come in. I’d love to guide you on your journey. No as an expert, but as a friend. I’ll share my experiences with you, let you know about resources I’ve discovered, and failures I’ve experienced. The basic format of Self-Care Sundays is simple:
1st Sunday—Mental Wholeness
2nd Sunday—Academic or Artistic Wholeness
3rd Sunday—Physical Wholeness
4th Sunday—Spiritual Wholeness
I’d love to have you join me each Sunday, and I’d love to hear about YOUR journey to wholeness!
Your journey to wholeness starts with MAPS. Find out why self-care is so important and start your journey today! #selfcare #nurture Click To Tweet
