TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF: SELF-CARE
TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF: SELF-CARE
By: Jack Guyler
While it is important to care for others, and this is certainly modeled by Jesus and the early church, it is essential to take care of yourself. Stephen Covey was one of the first to talk about this concept in his bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He referred to this as Sharpening the Saw, the habit of self-renewal. He says “it’s preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have – you.” [1]
And it’s true, unless you care for yourself and keep yourself in shape physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, you won’t be able to give the best of yourself to your work, your purpose, to God and to others. If you run yourself into the ground, you are no good to others. In fact, you may become a burden to them. This is why self-care is so important. We can either live out of a source of strength or out of weakness.
Ask yourself, do you spend so much time doing and working that you feel run down? If so, this should remind you that you aren’t filling up enough. Imagine if you just drove and drove your car but never took it in for maintenance or filled it up with gas. What do you think would happen to the car that you depend on to get you to work, go to the store, pick the kids up from school and run important errands? It would break down and you wouldn’t have it to take you where you need to go.
This is how we are. We can go, go, go. But at some point, we need to take time for personal renewal and maintenance. If we don’t, we will wear down. We will begin to break down not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Most experts agree today, including doctors, counselors and therapists, that people need to practice self-care or personal renewal on a regular basis.
So, what might that look like? Here are a few things that are time-tested and agreed upon by most experts that people need to do to keep themselves fresh, renewed and fit both mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually:
Rest – people previously have seen resting or sleep as a sign of weakness or laziness. However, medical science through years of research confirms what God has said since the beginning – rest is essential for all aspects of our lives. At least 7 hours of sleep a night is needed and at least one day off to rest and recharge weekly is essential (observe the Sabbath)
Diet & Exercise – both eating well (look at both your food choices and the source of your food) and regular exercise will help keep you fit and help strengthen your immune system
Do Something You Enjoy – find something you enjoy and try to do it with people you enjoy. It could be hunting, golf, knitting, dancing, walking…make sure you enjoy it! It will increase your endorphins and help you mentally as well as physically
Practice Peace – Jesus said “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” This isn’t something we are going to get and keep automatically. He isn’t sending it down from the heavens. It is something we need to tap into through the Holy Spirit that lives within us. It is a journey, a way of living. It is practicing accepting ourselves as we are…it is looking for the good that God is doing within us and through us…it is living with the anticipation of what God is going to do through us in the future…and being hopeful of the transformation He is doing in our lives
Why is self-care so important? I’ll give you two reasons. One is that you will find greater joy in your own life as you become the best version of yourself. Second, we either treat others out of our dysfunction or we treat others out of our strength and healing. You can guess which one is beneficial to those you love and care about. Giving our best to others is what Jesus meant when He said to “love others as you love yourself.”
Self-care is essential to keep ourselves strong and to give others the best of ourselves.
1 – The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R Covey
