Has your life shifted lately?  I’ve found with the recession that I’m spending a lot more time at home, meeting with friends in parks and living rooms, and foregoing fancy restaurants and theater shows.

My pace of life isn’t slower, though; if anything it seems faster than it’s ever been.  Looming to-do lists, family obligations, the busy-ness of daily life can easily overwhelm any downtime I’m hoping to find.

Here’s the thing:  self care is non-negotiable.  You have to do it or nothing else works.  It doesn’t matter what self care looks like for you, from cooking up a storm in the kitchen, to relaxing and enjoying a pedicure, to settling in to soft, fluffy pillows for a good read.

What you need:

• 150 to 200 minutes per week of exercise
• Nutritious meals that are plant-based (vegetarian or omnivore), mostly home-prepared
• a good night’s sleep every night
• 2 to 3 interactions per week that are just friendly and fun activities (i.e., meeting a friend for coffee)

If you’re currently up to your ears in tasks and errands, you just gave me the eye roll.  Yup, I know; seems darned near impossible, doesn’t it?

Here’s the thing… the daily activities that I’m asking you to do regularly take up only about 3.5% of your week (not counting the sleeping).

Aren’t you worth 3.5% of your available time?  So what are you going to do today to give yourself peace and happiness? Some suggestions:

• Call a friend on the phone, or even better, use Skype with video.
• Eat dinner together as a family and talk about your day.
• Go out to lunch during work.  Don’t just grab a sandwich and run back to your desk; grab a co-worker and a park bench and enjoy your break.
• Buy that great book you heard about and start reading.
• Go to the movies (with a friend or solo).
• Grab a friend for a “playdate”; exercise and conversation are a great combination.
• Treat yourself to that gym membership you’ve been resisting.
• Take a fun specialty class you’ve been wanting to try.  From pottery to spelunking there are lots and lots of options out there.

You get the idea.  We already know how to take care of ourselves, we just delay it for some other task we think is more important.  It’s not more important.

What would you like to do for yourself today?

Lisa

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