Being Forced to Self-Care
Every time the TV is on, we hear about COVID- 19 and its effects all over the world. We wonder if we are next or if our parents and grandparents are safe. We fret over simple tasks like grocery shopping, meal delivery, and going to the post office. Stress is at an all -time high with no conceivable end in sight. Families are together constantly, oftentimes in close quarters. Educators are scrambling to find activities for students, ways to address the obvious digital divide, grading based on work and not privilege. Even though schools are closed, the business of educating is alive and well, albeit on life support in the form of the teachers in the digital trenches.
However, we have something now that we have not had in quite a while. We have time. We have availability. We have a grasp on that ephemeral thing that we longed for when life was hectic and thrashing along like a rave party. Planet Earth is rejuvenating herself; the air in cities is cleaner, the smog has lifted! We should be smart enough to follow suit. Our bodies and minds need this time that we have not had the luxury of enjoying before. My favorite thing to say when I talk about self- care is: “If you don’t stop to take care of yourself, your body will stop you.” The common response is most often entwined in a lack of time. Well, now we have time. Now we can do things that work would not allow us to do. It is up to us to seize this moment and be selfish enough to give ourselves some grace.
If we are to come back to the real world and make things happen, we must learn from our mistakes. We have to do better and be better than we were before. When we take care of ourselves, we are able to do this. We feel equipped to deal with what life throws at us. Our brains are not in constant survival mode, our eyes don’t roll, and our mouths don’t snap at every comment. Follow Mother Nature’s leadership and take this time (what a precious commodity!) to take care of YOU. In doing so, you will be able to take care of everything else.