Back in the day, in a previous life almost, I was a counselor for domestic violence offenders. They came to a group session two times a week, essentially as an alternative to going to jail. I could write dozens of blog posts about it that would be interesting but not necessarily helpful for you.
What I have been thinking about that is definitely helpful is something we taught in those classes about taking care of every part of yourself.
In today’s society, we hear a lot about taking care of ourselves physically. We get inundated with ads for weight loss, exercise, and healthy eating. We see most celebrities as beautiful and glamorous.
Now more and more, we are hearing about taking care of ourselves mentally. Please remember that it is okay to get help when you’re feeling sad or overwhelmed.
The other area that is getting attention is taking care of ourselves spiritually (whatever that means for you). For many, it means finding your purpose.
I noticed personally that during the last two years I’ve done a really good job taking care of others—my kids, my extended family and my framily (friends that are family). I actually think this is part of my purpose. I like helping others and I like how I feel when I can make a difference in someone’s day.
I suspect a lot of parents with kids are in the same boat. Our lives were completely uprooted with the pandemic. For many, normal lives came to a screeching halt. So we adjusted. We were resilient. We are surviving.
But how well are we surviving? While I did a good job with the purpose part of my well being, I definitely let the physical part slip quite a bit. That’s okay. Knowing that is half the battle. Now it’s time to get the balance back to make sure that my physical, mental and spiritual circles are all the same size.
If you are a parent and all of a sudden your life has been disrupted by a pandemic and you’ve lost many of the resources you had for your special needs child, I suspect that your circles became a little uneven too. I hope you can find ways to get balanced. Our children need us forever so we need to take care of ourselves.
