Love and Care for Yourself
Love and Care for Yourself
When stress brought her life to a grinding halt, the author was forced to learn how to truly care for herself.
Are you able to relax, have fun, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life? Or do you:
Nurses are committed, compassionate, and conscientious about caring for patients, friends, colleagues, children, and significant others. Yet many of us have difficulty giving the same loving, unconditional care to ourselves, and we end up caring for others at our own expense. We're always putting oxygen masks on others, so to speak, while leaving ourselves deprived of the oxygen we need. Some nurses may even think it's altruistic to care for others but selfish to care for oneself.
I was forced to start taking better care of myself when my mind, body, and spirit stopped me one day and said, "I can't let you continue." My typical day began at 4:00 a.m., when I'd wake up and start thinking about what I had to do. I'd get out of bed at 5:30 a.m., shower, grab a quick breakfast, and leave by 6:30. By 8:00, I was ready to begin presenting my daylong nursing seminars. Midday, I rushed through lunch so I could get back to class before the nurses in my seminar returned from lunch break. By 4:30 p.m., my driver picked me up. By 6:30, I was in my home office reviewing medical records (I'm a legal nurse consultant). By 11:00 p.m., I was in bed.
That was my schedule the week of August 2, 2004. But on August 6 at 10:35 a.m., my life changed in a flash.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
When stress brought her life to a grinding halt, the author was forced to learn how to truly care for herself.
Introduction
Are you able to relax, have fun, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life? Or do you:
have trouble falling or staying asleep?
smoke, drink, or eat to reduce tension?
have headaches, back pain, or stomach problems?
get irritated or upset over insignificant things?
have too much to do and too little time to do it?
Nurses are committed, compassionate, and conscientious about caring for patients, friends, colleagues, children, and significant others. Yet many of us have difficulty giving the same loving, unconditional care to ourselves, and we end up caring for others at our own expense. We're always putting oxygen masks on others, so to speak, while leaving ourselves deprived of the oxygen we need. Some nurses may even think it's altruistic to care for others but selfish to care for oneself.
I was forced to start taking better care of myself when my mind, body, and spirit stopped me one day and said, "I can't let you continue." My typical day began at 4:00 a.m., when I'd wake up and start thinking about what I had to do. I'd get out of bed at 5:30 a.m., shower, grab a quick breakfast, and leave by 6:30. By 8:00, I was ready to begin presenting my daylong nursing seminars. Midday, I rushed through lunch so I could get back to class before the nurses in my seminar returned from lunch break. By 4:30 p.m., my driver picked me up. By 6:30, I was in my home office reviewing medical records (I'm a legal nurse consultant). By 11:00 p.m., I was in bed.
That was my schedule the week of August 2, 2004. But on August 6 at 10:35 a.m., my life changed in a flash.
Source...