Take Care of You

I was tired today. I’m not talking about being a little sleepy, either. I’m talking about the kind of tired today where by 10:00a.m., I thought I was going to need toothpicks to hold my eyes open. I stayed up late working on a logo for Crossroads and had to be up early for another round of state testing at the school. As Tuesday dragged on, I noticed my mood sinking and my energy level withering. My exhaustion had me reflecting about what I know professionally regarding rest and its affect on our mood. That spiraled into thoughts of self-care and how easy it can be to avoid it all together. The fact is, though, self-care is one of the easiest, least expensive ways to care for our physical AND mental health. The National Institutes of Health reports the many benefits from exercise: better sleep, better intimacy, better endurance, less stress, better moods, more energy, and the list goes on. The American Psychological Association says that adults who sleep less than eight hours a night feel more sluggish, lazy and irritable than their peers who catch enough Z’s. I don’t even have to mention what we now know about lack of sleep and concentration. There are endless reports of drowsy and/or distracted driving accidents each year. I won’t bore you with another set of facts regarding diet. I’ll spare you another lecture on meditation and relaxation. Instead, I’ll leave you with a condensed list of all the things we (and I include myself heavily in that group) can do to take better care of ourselves….