Why we need to make ourselves our #1 priority. In order to sustain and manage our health living with a chronic disease we have to create an environment that supports us. We do this so we can enjoy our lives more and make the most of every day. We do it so we have the energy we need to fulfill our daily duties. And perhaps most importantly for many, we do it because we have family and friends who count on us.
Why is it so hard to do?!? Often we let our responsibilities for our work and family come first. Sometimes it’s hard because our disease makes us feel lousy physically and mentally. For many it is due to the stress in our lives that overwhelms everything else.
What steps can we take to make tending to ourselves the number one priority. Create a rhythm or pattern in your life that includes regular exercise, healthy meals and enough sleep. Organize your home so it supports a healthy lifestyle from a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter to an uncluttered sleep space with no electronics or television. Build in down time and some pampering in your life. Pampering can include treating yourself to mediation or an occasional massage to a walk in a park or a meet up with a friend. At the end of the day enjoy a cup of tea and write down the good things that have happened that day or examples of why you are grateful. Making yourself your number one priority includes tending to both your mental as well as physical health.
We need to give ourselves permission to make ourselves our number one priority. Anyone living with a chronic disease realizes that health cannot be assumed. And living as our healthiest selves requires work…a lot of purposeful work. When we make ourselves our number one priority we feel better, have more energy, can accomplish our responsibilities with greater ease, and can enjoy life much more readily.
Plain and simple…we should make ourselves our number one priority because we are worth it!
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