Thought For The Week: Self-Care
I’m struggling with the term “self-care”? What does it even mean?
I think that it is a miused, misplaced word that somehow seems to be a frequent flyer in these parts.
But then perhaps I've missed the boat?
After you've had a stroke people tell you to be kind to yourself, don't be so hard on yourself, stop trying to be perfect and a ton of other platitudes.
But I have to ask the question, shouldn't we do that anyway?
Isn't the term self-care meant to imply that we should treat ourselves in the way in which we treat others?
For sure I'm an overachiever. I like to get things done and I want it to happen now. What's wrong with that? My ambition is what motivates me. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. When everything else has gone wrong. My ambition is all I have to fall back on. My ambition is what's going to kick this stroke’s ass!
A new friend, and a dear friend, keeps telling me that it is not a sprint that I'm running. It's a marathon. And she's right.
But here's the thing, I am treating myself with loads of “self-care”. Probably the most I've ever treated myself to. I take naps regularly. I practice a mantra. I meditate. I lay down to bed by ten o’clock every night. In my own bed…. hell, I haven’t even slept with my husband for the 16 weeks since my stroke.
So I get what people are saying. All of the kind wishes of “treat yourself” are laced with good intentions, for sure. I'm only saying that one should take caution with defining self-care.