It is time to concentrate on my health. The last two years have been an emotional whirlwind and my own needs were placed far, far, far back in order to fully concentrate on other, more pressing, ones.
However, it is true that if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to help others—very well, or maybe not at all.
My foot injury is probably what made me realize how important health is, especially mobility. I made an appointment with a podiatrist only to cancel it two days later when my foot finally began to feel better. Week 4, day 2. If it keeps getting better at this rate, I won’t need an appointment.
But oh man will I enjoy getting my life back! Hiking, biking, riding Tweed and the others. This has been a GORGEOUS spring! I’ve never seen one more beautiful here and May is just getting started.
I’ve also restarted Noom for the encouragement, psychology / science, and accountability. I’ve been doing a lot of “fog eating” the last couple of years. (Babysitting puts me in that state.) It’s time to pay more attention.
We got Epona safely to training, but haven’t heard much in updates. Hard to say what that means, but it usually means they’re in an adjustment period and no news is good news.
It is nice to see "the clearing through the trees" so to speak. Self care is so important. I for one am forever restarting. Without health (of any kind) our quality of life is altered. The older I get, the more I need self care and needed adjustments. Makes a person really (really) appreciate good health.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading about Epona's training. She will flourish!
So true about always restarting. It is so easy to take health for granted when everything is seemingly going well. For example, when you’re mobile and moving, you might neglect eating somewhat healthy or drinking more water, then the one chair of health you have left, mobility, is kicked out from under you and the other areas of health you ignored can’t support you—mentally, spiritually, or physically.
DeleteI really need to sit down and put to paper what “self-care” means to me. What, specifically, do I need to do to step up for myself? We all do.
Linda, putting it down on paper sounds like a great idea! Maybe I should give that a go.
DeleteYou should. It’s not as easy it sounds, at least not for me. Like fog eating, I also do fog time wasting. I think figuring out my self-care routine or list or whatever it is, will help me make better use of my spare time.
DeleteI loved my time with Noom - it was such a help when Jay and I did it four years ago. I've tried going back to it, for refreshers, but never make it out of the first two weeks. I want new stuff, new information, not the recycled stuff I spent a year learning the first time around. I had a 4,900+ meal logging streak that I gave up last week. Part of me feels really guilty about deleting the Noom app, but a bigger part of me feels empowered to listen to my body. I was doing a great job with self care, but have let it slip in the past couple of years. I still make a (half-hearted) effort to take care of myself, but find myself giving away time that should be protected "me time". There's just not enough time in the day to give everyone, myself included, the time they deserve, and that frustrates me. But the only person I can blame is myself.
ReplyDeleteWe also got bored with Noom after a year, but it changed our lives.
DeleteI remember how it got me and my husband dancing at home everyday. We were like kids again, dancing inside, outside, under the moon, out in the snow, barefoot in the grass, on the deck. When life changed for us, it seemed a little inappropriate to be dancing around our daughter and grandson, but they have joined us for a song or two or three here and there. Nothing like we were doing though. It’s rare now.
Noom was good at teaching me to make changes in my entire life, to listen to my body, be present, take deep breaths, and only add on a little at a time.
I think I’m going to skip around the lessons and do the ones I most need now. Today I jumped to “create space for joy in your life.”
I just finished a lesson with Tweed and it took me to instant joy. There is nothing like that feeling of accomplishment, overcoming fear and uncertainty, then magical moments of true partnership.
After losing Cowboy, just months after this other big loss, it has been a journey finding my way back to joy on horseback.
You’ve had a huge loss, too, and I know that it can affect every area of your life much deeper than you realize. You shouldn’t blame yourself for just surviving, especially since sometimes that is a great accomplishment in itself. Some stages of our lives require pouring ourselves out almost entirely, but we do need to put some back in too.
If I figure out how, I’ll let you know.
I agree, Noom did change my life in many areas that I still hold on to today. I'll get my mojo back soon :)
DeleteIt is normal to put ourselves on the back burner to attend to the needs of others, but comes a time when we need to get ourselves right before we can invest our time and emotions and energy into others.
ReplyDeleteWhen I broke my ankle nearly 3 years ago it was a wake up call- I am not invincible, I am aging and don't heal quickly, and it was time to make changes in my expectations of myself. It's hard to let go of that independent nature!
I miss those blossoms !
A broken ankle would be a wake up call, too! You can’t ignore that. 😔 I was rushing around when I hurt my foot. We were hosting a family dinner and I had gone to get someone something. I’m going to start slowing way down. Take my life rhythm down a few notches and budget my time and commitments accordingly.
DeleteThose blossoms are from a crab apple tree we planted last year. They are so beautiful. Don’t you have blossoms coming in season about now?
I think that women are really good at putting themselves last. I’m glad you’re taking the time to take care of yourself.
ReplyDeleteWell, after I wrote this, I rushed around again and threw out my back hauling a heavy tree around a store to my pickup. I guess I’m going to keep getting reminders until I figure it out. Slow. Down. (And start asking for help then wait for it to come. It was impatience that got me.)
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