I don’t know about you, but this spring teaser weather is really getting to me! I long to shut the computer off, take a walk, and listen to the spring birds. But emails are calling my name, and I’ve got a hundred calls to make. Seriously. Yet, too often we think that if we take time to take better care of ourselves, whether it’s by going to the gym, joining friends for lunch, or taking a fifteen minute respite from the world, we are somehow selfish. Or worse-lazy. However, self-care does not equate to self-centeredness.

You know the airline oxygen mask analogy: Take care of yourself first so that you can take care of those you love. Need I say more? Perhaps I do, because we don’t seem to take self-care seriously. Yet health and well-being are serious issues!

Self-care is not about being selfish.

Ironically, self-care leads to more energy, efficiency, effectiveness, focus, clarity, and productivity. I’m not saying you need to devote two or three hours of each day to praying, reading, reflecting, exercising, and doing whatever you want. What I am saying, though, is that self-care is critical for both your well-being and the well-being of others. Proper self-care is not just a nice thought. Your body, mind, and spirit depend on it.

So what are you doing for your own well-being? Are you exercising your body and mind? Are you addressing your spiritual needs? Do you have any downtime to simply enjoy solitude and peace?  

Learn to let go.

Make a point—today—that you will drop some of those less important activities in your life so you can rest, rejuvenate, and rejoice.

What is some of the best advice you’ve been given regarding self-care? How do you incorporate it into your life? Leave your comments in the box below.

I think I hear a lot of you sighing in relief about now, because you too secretly loathe exercising, despite your desire for good health. Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not the moving and shaking about I can’t stand.  It’s the concept that makes me grit my teeth. The term exercise makes me

• Feel guilty because I haven’t started.
• Feel guilty because when I do start I’m not doing it hard enough or often enough.
• Feel guilty because I eventually stop.

Did I say guilty? Okay, here are more reasons why I don’t like exercise:

• I have too much else to do.
• Exercise is torture.
• I’d rather have fun.

Did I say fun? Okay, this is where so many people get stuck. They think exercise is boring! Well, yeah! Huffing and puffing on a treadmill? What am I, some kind of lab animal? Whoever thought they could combine kicking with aerobics, only to call it fun, well… I dread to see what the rest of his life looks like.

But seriously, though. I honestly think people don’t exercise because of the boredom factor. Now if they could only do something more exciting like dancing and call it exercise, well that’s a different story. Oh, wait. Dancing is exercise! And so is skiing and playing tag with the kids and taking nature walks and going snorkeling, and smacking a tennis ball and….

You get the point. Maybe not. So here’s the point: You’ve been duped, misled, dragged across the mud of guilt and shame. Stop thinking of exercise as exercise. Stop using that word altogether. When your doctor orders you to exercise three times a week, tell yourself that she’s really saying, “Now go do something fun and interesting that requires movement a few times a week.”

Ahhhh. Sounds so much more appealing. And doable.

So, what do you do that’s fun, interesting, and requires movement a few times a week (Ahem…Keep the comments clean…)? Put your responses in the box below.