Are You Ready For When You Need To Be Well?

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We know the benefits of exercise, yet many of us find it difficult to carve out time to make it happen. However, when you understand that the ability to support your family and friends is reliant on your own health, it helps you to get your priorities in line.

Many of us live such fast paced lives that we feel like we are always on the edge. One thing goes wrong and our carefully constructed house of cards tumbles to the ground. And if 2020 has taught us anything it’s that things can, and will, go wrong. We simply cannot control all areas of our lives (ain’t that the truth!). We will need to care for parents who are unwell, for children who are going through difficult times, for our friend who has lost a job, for our partner who is dealing with high levels of stress, or be ready to face a world pandemic.

Rather than feeling like we are always exhausted and on the edge, we need to be prepared for these moments when life throws us challenges and we need to be strong enough physically and emotionally to support others. Do you have the capacity to care for those around you?

Simple ways to stay well:

Mindset: We need to accept that taking care of ourselves is the best way to care for others. Back in the day when we used to be allowed to fly on planes, you would remember the standard safety procedure instructing us to secure your own oxygen mask before helping your children or others. The reason is simple and practical - a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching your brain (hypoxia), will render you useless. It is critical to take care of ourselves first in order to be able to take care of others.
You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.
Exercise: For many of us, when life gets busy the first thing to go from our day is exercise. We believe that no one else will be effected if we miss our training session so we let this go in order to pick up a sick child, do the grocery shopping or respond to an urgent work email. I would argue though that the people around you do benefit from you exercising. I always come back from a run or training session in a more positive, constructive state of mind than when I set out, and my family, my work and my friends are all the beneficiaries of this. Schedule in time to exercise as you would any essential appointment. This should be a non-negotiable for the sake of yourself and everyone around you.
Nutrition: How often have you sent the kids off to school with well prepared, nutritious lunches and then found yourself munching on a stale Vegemite sandwich at 4pm in between meetings? Eating well does not have to be complicated or time consuming. Where most people come unstuck is not having the right food at hand when it’s needed. Preparing a salad is just as easy as making a sandwich as long as the ingredients are there. A simple way to keep the fridge filled with nutritious food is to get involved in a fruit and vegetable co-op such as box divvy so you will always have fresh food in the house. Always chop and prepare more than you need so leftovers are on hand for when you are in a rush. Focus on filling your plate with nutrient rich food which will then leave less space for the less healthy options.
Rest: When we are tired, our capacity to cope is greatly diminished. The idiom “to burn the candle at both ends” is explained as: “to work extremely or excessively hard; to work too hard for good health or peace of mind.” Pushing on day ofter day with no rest is no good to anyone. If we don’t take time to rest and recover, we simply have nothing left in us to care for others.
Re-fuel: There is nothing like a holiday to allow us to re-set and re-fuel. Even busy, jam packed holidays offer us a change of scene that can kick us out of our day to day routine and allow us to feel revived upon return. After re-fueling we have an increased ability to cope with the things that may have been challenging us. And going on a holiday is not the only way to re-fuel. Doing something you enjoy that is slightly different to your normal routine such as a day at the beach or simply a peaceful morning walk will allow you to re-fuel your tank so you have more of yourself to share with others.