Emotional Support

Recently I attended a stress webinar that was excellent. Even though I knew a lot of the things shared, I was reminded that I don’t always do the things I need to do in order to help myself. Like being on an airplane where you put the oxygen mask on yourself before you help others, I need to make sure I’m dealing with my own stress before I can help others.

One question asked was:

How many people are plugged into you?

This means - How many people do you support emotionally? Sometimes when you have too many people plugged into you, they are sucking out the energy and it is important that you replace this energy before you get depleted.

Giving occupations such as teachers, cops, firefighters, and medical personnel usually attract people who are very giving. They give so much that over time it can affect their health if they don’t practice self-care habits. When I was growing up, I was always taught that practicing self-care habits are selfish, I don’t think that people realize how detrimental that was, but I know that they hoped to teach children that giving was more important than taking.

I think we still can teach children the importance of giving but we need to teach them also about balancing with self-care. This is not being selfish. I think this will help people be more giving because they will have more energy and not feel overwhelmed.

I think it is important to find an outlet that you can do on a regular basis in order to recharge yourself. It may be a hobby or exercise, but you need to plan for it in your schedule and stick to it. It doesn’t have to be huge amounts of time and can be as short as 30 minutes every day or every other day. There may be times that you skip it but make sure these times are rare and your special time is not set aside for other things. Your special time is as important or even more important than anything else. When you set aside these times, don’t feel guilty about taking “me” time and when you do feel guilty, remind yourself that you are just recharging your battery so others can plug into you.

I try to take time every morning to write in my bullet journal. I include at least one thing that happened the day before that I’m grateful for. I also have a prayer book and will add a few things that I’m praying for today. I try to exercise for an hour at least 4 times a week and if I do more, I’m ahead of the game. I also knit which I find very relaxing.

What do you do to recharge your battery? Please share.

Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash