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| Photo by Heather |
I was living the super mom life, or so I thought. Taking care of my husband, our children, other people's children, the house, homeschooling, children's ministry, and so much more for several years. I was busy nonstop.
Then one day it hit me, out of nowhere, my heart began racing. I felt lightheaded. My jaw began to hurt. Starting at my shoulders and moving down my arms to my fingers was all tingly, like I was losing blood circulation.
I had someone take me to the local urgent care. After talking to the doctor for a while, I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue. I had worn myself out. The bad thing is, I already felt God pushing me to start taking care of my body physically, emotionally, and spiritually before I got sick. I just remained stubborn, didn't listen to his voice, and kept right on trudging through each day.
Now, I wish I would have listened to His voice.
In the following weeks, I began to have anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. I had heard of all those things before. I never thought I would suffer from any of them, after all, my life was great and full of joy.
My joy was sucked out of me in an instant. No matter what I did I couldn't get it back. I felt so much stress all at once. The stress was already there, I was just too busy to notice it or what it was doing to my health.
Notice I said no matter what I did I couldn't get my joy back. Well of course not. I was trying to do this all on my own. That is what got me into the mess to begin with.
For several years I really did depend on God to lead me each day, provide what I needed, and to fill me up. Then, I became very busy working for Him. To start with I believe I was truly honoring Him and giving Him glory by serving in ministry, serving my family, and others.
Not one of those things are bad. The problem was I had gotten so busy I started focusing on the serving instead of focusing on my Heavenly Father. I basically started doing everything on my own and in my own strength.
Well, my strength ran out and I got my wakeup call.
I have been working on selfcare for about three and a half to four years now.
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The coral rose from my rose garden. Photo by Heather
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The very first thing I did was turn my focus back to God and His word. I started studying what selfcare was according to the Bible. It reminded me that my body is the Temple of the Lord, so I need to take care of it. Therefore, if I do not turn to God and allow Him to pour into me to restore my spiritual, physical, and emotional self, I will have nothing to give others.
The next thing I began to do was pay attention to how I was feeling. If I felt I needed to rest I would stop for a few minutes and rest. This has been hard for me because I don't want to come across as lazy. I have to remind myself often that God gave us a whole day to rest, and He made our bodies to need rest.
Also, I began looking for ways to help relieve my stress. Prayer and breathing techniques were a start to get the tension from the stress to release. Laughter has been a huge stress buster as well.
I also realized I had to change my thinking patterns. I had so many negative thoughts when anxiety, panic attacks, and depression got a stronghold on me. I learned I really can take every thought captive and think positive. This has ultimately changed my mood.😄
After spending time with God each morning I feel more energized, and I am less stressed throughout the day.
I am still working on establishing a good selfcare routine. Some days may require more selfcare than others. It just all depends on what is going on at that moment and how it impacts my life.
In later posts, I will tell you more about the ways I have practiced selfcare. The things that have worked for me and possibly things that didn't work.
I hope you are already practicing selfcare yourself. I would love to hear what really works to help you release stress and feel refreshed.
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