Take Care of Yourself

It feels so good to be able to really exercise again! I did Bob Harper's challenge on Facebook, and went walking. Between Bob's challenges and Jillian's great food advice, I'm in good hands!

I want to stress how important it is that we take the time to take care of ourselves. We are so busy taking care of everyone else in our lives that we neglect ourselves. When we don't do what we need to do for us, everything suffers. We don't feel well, and then we can't do all of the other things we need to do. Our families, friends, and jobs suffer because we don't schedule that time in to exercise and make sure we eat healthy foods.

On top of that, we wind up having more medical problems. I've been out of work for almost 3 years now, and this past October I had horrible pain in my gums and jaw. I mean the kind of pain that makes childbirth look easy. Turns out I had to have two root canals and get crowns on my teeth. I hadn't been to the dentist in a couple of years, because of finances and lack of dental insurance. I still brushed and flossed every day, but hadn't had the regular checkups and cleanings that I needed. It would have been much cheaper to do the preventative measures...instead it cost me thousands of dollars to take care of the problem. (And don't forget the PAIN!)

This is also a lesson learned from my good friend who just passed away. She was excellent at her job and took wonderful care of her family, friends, and clients. The problem was...she didn't schedule in enough time to take care of herself. She told me that she was working on finding the time to take care of her health. Unfortunately, she passed away at age 37, before she could really turn the situation around. We all miss her so much, and would rather that she had said say no to things a few times so she could take care of herself and still be here with us. And she's not the only one...I've heard this from a lot of people, either about themselves or their friends.

I'm not saying that you should only think about yourself. I'm saying we need to make sure we work on that balance of time so we can feel better, have more energy, and be more productive. Besides...our loved ones want us around for a long time!