In today’s society, people’s identities are shaped by how many hours they work or how few days they take off. In this paradigm, we lose sight of what really matters… Taking care of ourselves. We live to work instead of work to live. Now.. take a moment & think to yourself, Why do I usually take days off? Do I wait until I’m deathly ill in order to take time off for myself or even worse, do I end up losing vacation & sick time at the end of the year? Welcome to adulthood.
So many of us “escape into responsibility” instead of doing the necessary self-care and taking mental health days when we need them. But.. why is that? Most of us do not know it’s allowed to take a day to focus on ourselves and that we don’t have to wait until we feel burned out to do it.
That brings us to our next point… What is self-care? Well, that’s a great question and that answer evades most of us. Is it eating that piece of chocolate cake & wearing a face mask? Getting that massage? Reaching out to trusted friends to vent? Yes, ALL OF THAT but its also more than that. It’s about creating a life you don’t routinely need to escape from. It’s really more about taking regular breaks in our busy lives, showing up for yourself by eating healthy, exercising, setting boundaries with difficult people, doing things that make your heart sing and accepting that you are not going to everything on the dreaded ‘to-do’ list done.
Taking Time for Ourselves
In the book, “The Joy of Burn Out“, Glouberman, discusses how when we do not take time for ourselves (ie: Mental Health Days) and become overly invested in work, we lose our joy. She goes on to explain that one day we are feeling happy & fulfilled, overworking & career-driven and the next moment, we ask ourselves.. “Where did my joy go?” as we stumble through life on a scavenger hunt with no map. She continues on to say that if we do not surrender now & take breaks when necessary, we will pay the price later.. which may be what lead you to read this blog today.
If you are wondering to yourself, “Where did my joy go?” and/or are struggling with taking care of yourself, please reach out to Specialized Therapy Associates today at 201-488-6678 & we would be happy to help you find your way back to yourself.
