Self Care...Pleasure or Pain?

I am the worst when it comes to self care.  I am working on it, however, it is a subject that is most commonly mentioned to me by loved ones (meaning it is still an issue).  I spent a good 6 months just trying to figure out what self care actually is.  What I found is a not so complex set of actions which result in the caring of one's self...don't you love the circular definition?  These actions can be as 'simple' as sleeping enough, and eating a myriad of foods with no rigidity, or it can scale all the way to seeing a doctor, having surgery, or climbing a mountain.  Self care is anything that you can do to nurture your mind, body, and spirit.  



The struggle for me comes when I am bombarded by the every day crap.  When I have to pay bills, go to school 6 hours a day, study another 6 hours a day, clean my house, and travel to all of these places, it is difficult sometimes to add in eating, sleeping, family time, friend time, alone time, and time to do my hobbies (which have ceased to exist lately.).  Every now and then my therapist and family will remind me of this, and even people who don't know me very well will comment on my facebook posts reminding me to take "me-time" in the day.  I guess I am infamous for not mastering self care.  


Really, I do believe it all comes down to priorities.  Yes, there are some days where my schedule is absolutely packed, and I cannot fit in family or friend time, and there are other things that are not so important that can be dropped from my schedule.  There are other things that cannot be dropped.  These are the basics that need to be attended to and can be remembered by the term Please Master:


attend to PhysicaL Illness
balanced Eating
          Avoiding mood altering substances.
adequate Sleep
    regular Exercise
Master something every day (do something every day that makes you feel competent)


This is such a hard thing to do for me for some reason.  I am great with Mastery, I am always working on school, or improving my interpersonal/personal skills.  I do admit however that the first thing in my schedule that goes out the window is sleep, then exercise, then food, then avoiding mood altering drugs, and forget about taking care of myself when Im sick (confession:  writing this blog in biology while plagued with bronchitis, sinusitis, and the stomach flu).  


So, before ye mighty blog readers, I am today - the first day of the new semester - pledging to focus on the PLEASE portion of this wonderful acronym over this semester...well lets be real...this week. 


How are you doing with your self care?  Do you take time for yourself?  To eat, sleep, take care of your body, or exercise?  What do you think you could improve day by day in order to live a more fulfilled life?  I know that I could add back in some of my hobbies...singing, knitting, jewelery making, and reading to name a few.  This is a way to show yourself love, just as you would show others.


You are Loved
Haley