The following is an excerpt from Oddball, The Resilience Guide
Everyone seems to be talking about Selfcare. Some people love it, and others are sick of it (mostly because they don’t understand its importance) But do you know what is required? Let’s just say it’s more than just going to the spa, especially during a crisis. Here is a snapshot.
The Basic Requirements for Resilience and Self-Care to Make You Whole, Balanced and all Around Better Are:
Assessing Preparedness for Self-Care
- Do you have the motivation, time, commitment and space to care for yourself fully?
- Create conscious healthy habits and reduction/elimination of unhealthy ones. Hence creating an enjoyable, doable ritual is key. Undertaking huge tasks right away, may not work and could discourage you. Choosing manageable, smaller tasks can give you the strength and motivation to continue this lifelong process.
- Try various techniques. The key is to ensure you are treating your specific needs, not simply doing generic suggestions.
- Give things time to work. It took time to get unbalanced and ill, and it will take time to bring you back to your center. I found that some people get very impatient and give up too soon. Rushing has its place sometimes but not in caring for yourself.
- Be ready for the unexpected. This is an incredible time to use your creative resources. Insights usually occur in this phase though it can be frightening and disconcerting in the beginning.
- Be aware that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Trust your instincts and your gut. Some of the most effective self-care methods are simple and basic. Others are more complex but doing them with the right professional makes it easier, e.g. a new physical fitness routine, or trying aromatherapy.
Who Needs to Build Resilience by Way of Self-Care
The answer to who needs to build resilience by way of Self-Care is for: anyone who is ready, willing, and able to commit to a significantly better, healthier, and happier life.
Chronic pain is pain that does not go away. With chronic pain, the pain signals continue for weeks, months, and years after the original cause has occurred. The pain varies in intensity and location. The pain can be emotional and equal to, if not more severe, than physical pain. It is distinct from acute, short-term pain because the acute pain could possibly go away depending on treatment and cause.
Acute pain is often defined as a normal sensation, triggered by the nervous system, alerting you to possible injury and to take care of yourself. Chronic pain often interferes with quality of life in very important ways as stated above. It is also interconnected. One area of your life spills over into another. For example, the pain causes sleep loss which lowers your immune system which can lead to other compound infections and illnesses.
The cause of chronic pain and stress can be:
- A diagnosed illness or disease
- An undiagnosed illness or disease
- An injury or accident including a victim of child abuse and domestic violence
- Repetitive motion injury
- Exposure to poor ergonomics and working conditions
- Exposure to chemicals, toxins or pervasive poor nutrition
- A combination of psychological, emotional and spiritual crises and emergencies
- And sometimes simply for unknown reasons
Self-care is for someone who wants to regain homeostasis, increase resilience, be more creative, despite what we have been wrongfully conditioned to believe. This is for someone who has tried traditional techniques with no relief and who spends more time looking after yet neglecting oneself.
Self-care is not selfish, silly, trendy, vain, an out of reach luxury, over-indulgent, or an undeserved act. Without proper self-care you will continue to fall out of balance, live with unnecessary misery and be forced back into balance by life itself, usually in a dramatic and unpleasant way. Self-care ranges from basic biological needs being met to purposely bringing joy and pleasure into your life regardless of what is going on inside and around you. Self-Care is Self-Power and that’s why there is so much resistance and fear.
Self-worth is not optional if you want to be healthy and feel joy. If you can’t appreciate yourself, how can you expect anyone else to? How can you expect to value others, if the simple act of valuing yourself is too much of a strain?
We all struggle with this at times, but learning to accept and love yourself is one of the most powerful steps you can take on the road to success. In fact, if you do nothing else but truly learn your real worth, a lot of the other things in your life will start to fall into place.
Take a deep breath, remind yourself that you are worth taking the time to selfcare.