Self Care Isn’t A Magic Pill

What does successful self care feel like? The thing is, it can still feel shit. There are many things I can’t write about my (semi) recent house move.

 

But I can say is that it was shitty shitty and very draining on both of us. While the outcome was great, a house move organised (both in packing and finances) in one week after being in a house over nine years… while working full time .. was too full on. I don’t like busy. 

 

There were times when I couldn’t face the tasks we have to do so I tried to do other things just so that I wasn’t physically in the space I couldn’t handle seeing again.

 

Self Care Isn’t A Magic Pill

 

Self Care Isn’t A Magic Pill

 

I guess you’d call lots of it self care.

  • Calling in the cavalry
  • Getting support from friends and family
  • Being kind to myself

 

All the self care tick boxes were ticked.

 

And yet I spent weeks feeling like shit.

 

So what does self care do?

 

It doesn’t make you a bundle of joy. It “merely” helps you cope a little bit more.

 

I wasn’t happy. I was frustrated, angry and tired.

 

But I did keep going. It all got done. We moved. 

 

When The Flu Hits

In a more recent example, this weekend just gone was Brisbane WordCamp. My only attempt at a conference this year. Naturally on Friday when I was at the doctors clinic, my GP agreed that I have a flu. Summer flu, to be exact.

 

 

 

I am not only learning about self care but actually enforcing it. On Saturday I went for the morning of the conference. Found someone I knew from a Facebook group at lunch, got to meet them in person, then went home.

 

There were some sessions I wanted to see but they would be recorded so I will watch them when they are published. I missed the networking event entirely. Not really ideal for someone who has networking as a goal.

 

I slept Saturday afternoon. I know many people probably do, but I only nap when I’m sick. So it’s a big deal if I sleep during the day.

 

And then I slept all night too. Clearly my body was begging for it. Which makes sense given all these smarty pants doctors tell us that rest helps viruses. Ugh. Who wants logical, sensible advice?! 

 

On Sunday I took it easy. I only left home after midday to head into the conference for the second day. 

8 Replies to “Self Care Isn’t A Magic Pill”

  1. Self care is definitely not a magic pill but including self care into your day (5 mins reading, listening to music, walking outside, patting your dog, etc) can help you cope better with the demands of life (just as you point out here). I’m glad you had the opportunity to rest and that you took it – knowing me I would have soldiered on and done more damage…

    1. It was really hard – I struggled with “why did I pay to attend if I could have just watched them online for free later” by going home and missing sessions.

  2. Self-care, easy to preach and harder to practice.
    It is my intention to be more like this but I get it mixed up with self-indulgence so it requires something I am not always good at – self-discpline.

    Great post and I think, over time, you will look back and be pleased as hard as it was, that you came through this time!

    Thank you for linking up for #lifethisweek. Next week’s optional prompt is Share Your Snaps. Denyse

  3. What a pain being sick when you had a networking event you wanted to be at. Self care is listening to yourself and doing what you need to do to be ok. I hope you’re feeling better soon! #TeamLovinLife

  4. Sometimes we just need to slow down a bit and let our bodies catch up with our brains. Sorry that it messed up your networking etc, but getting healthy again would have been the best choice you could have made.

  5. All I can say is you must have been so tired & your body has screamed that it’s had enough. Packing up and moving in a week is tougher than tough. Throw in a job and health issues & it’s all even tougher. It’s a pain being sick when it’s inconvenient to be so, but at least you listened to your body.

  6. I think self-care looks different for everyone. For me it’s about routines and comfort zones. But also about doing the things I don’t usually allow myself to do (like binge on Netflix).

    As you know moving is one of the most stressful things you can do and I’m glad you survived. (I also need to check in to see how Monday went….)

  7. Self-care is so fricking hard! I do try and incorporate it every day – exercise, beach, connecting with friends, reading etc etc and still there are days when I will feel like complete shit! Good to see you did what your body needed. Hopefully time off work will also help!

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