For Women – Taking Care of Yourself
Here is a list of ideas that I’ve come up with (and am trying to put into practice) to ensure that I take care of myself and thus can be even more help to others.
1. I know it’s been said to be wrong but take care of yourself first but this is not entirely true. Why? Because if I’m tapped and sapped out, what can I give to others? For this reason, I try and care for myself first, meaning within the first couple of hours of the day. My first “to do” item is to take care of me. For each person the “to do ” item will be different. Now, I’m not just talking about showering, eating and getting dressed. I’m talking about doing something that will impact your entire day! For me this means a time of prayer and bible study. For someone else this may mean exercising, reading a good novel or giving yourself a pedicure. It’s so easy to say I’ll do it later in the day, but if you’re anything like me, that time will never come so take care of you the first hour of the day.
2. Practice saying no. Establish a mission goal or purpose for your life. Why do you exist? It shouldn’t be anymore than 2-3 sentences. Each time you are asked to do something, check and see if it lines up with your mission or goal. It’s so easy to be taken off track. Sometimes we are simply doing “good” things but in the end they work against us because they pull us away from our main mission or goal.
3. Receive help and even ask for help. I can’t tell you how many times my husband offers to cook dinner because I’ve been busy with a client or helping out someone from our church group. Many times I have to admit that I will decline his help. Why? I’m not Super Woman and neither are you. It’s nothing wrong with receiving a little help sometimes. Jesus himself said that “it is more blessed to give than receive” so why don’t we allow others to be blessed by helping us? This weekend a couple from our church group made us a wonderful meal for Memorial Day just to bless us. They will never know how much that meant to us. We were simply exhausted from all we had to do over the weekend and I dreaded cooking. What a blessing when we received a call telling us to come to the door to get the plate.
5. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. This is an old saying but oh so true. There is only so much time in a day. You can’t squeeze more than 24 hours into it so stop trying. Some things can wait until tomorrow. Prioritize your tasks and don’t put more into your planner than you can handle in a day.
6. Schedule in your own needs/plans. My girlfriend and I walk at lunchtime some time. This is our time for walking and for prayer. Although she has a very demanding job, we try and walk as often as we can. Use your lunch hour for more than eating. Pack your lunch and a good book and go down to the park on your lunch hour, or schedule a 15 minute massage. Use your lunch hour for you! It’s a time to regroup and become refreshed.
7. Cell phones are wonderful tools/assets but they can be a hinderance to personal time. Don’t be afraid to turn off your cell phone or not answer the phone. Decide that this is your personal time and you won’t be interrupted. Follow up after that one hour is complete. You’ll be surprised how different you feel about and look at things.
8. Take up a hobby. Come on ladies. Knitting is not just for the older generation. We all need to take the time to rest our minds and just take the time out to relax. Some other ideas are crocheting, golfing, quilting, scrapbooking, fishing (yes ladies do that too), boating or arts/crafts. Shopping or investing is not considered a hobby. This should be something that is enjoyable to you and not stressful.
