At times life gets too busy and my mind reels after I've inadvertently added too many goals /tasks to my TO DO list.
Does this sound like you❓
It's hard for me to fall asleep, and sleep peacefully through the night, as my mind attempts to haphazardly accomplish what I could not.
My anxiety intensifies, because I'm not managing my self-care goals efficiently. Exercise has temporarily fallen off the non-negotiables list and Ollie is giving me his sad eyes, pleading: When are we headed to the forest for a run?
My mood suffers with a lack of confidence as I recognize I've been putting too much on my proverbial plate, and then wonder why I can't accomplish it all.
Can you identify❓
Today, January 26th, 2022, this is me❣️ It's time for me to step back and evaluate my non-negotiables and determine what I need to give myself permission to take a break from.
My Non-Negotiables Lists:
🤩 I challenge you to make your own. ✅
Self-Care: Jocelyn
It's not selfish to prioritize self-care.... It's a prerequisite to your #Mental Health & Wellbeing❣️ I am worthy, I am enough, I deserve to have my needs met.
Interpersonal Relationships - My Family:
I work diligently to prioritize my relationships💯❗️
They mean everything to me❗️
Physical Health & Wellness:
sleep hygiene, 30 minutes outdoors in the forest with my mental health buddy Ollie, eating nutritious meals, and taking my medications.
Spiritual Health & Wellness:
Starting the day centered with faith-based devotion, staying connected to my spiritual community, respectfully expressing my spiritual needs when appropriate, daily prayer & scripture reading, worship in community whether that be on Zoom, in person at church, or prayerfully running through the forest. God is everywhere I am. It's important to me to make the time I need to remember to whom I belong. I'm a child of God.
I'm learning to listen first, and getting a little better at practicing kindness daily.
Mental Health & Wellness:
Mindfulness Practice to calm and settle anxious thoughts, using writing and art as tools of expression and creativity, which feed me. Participating in learning communities with a growth mind-set, actively engaging with my counsellor and mental health professionals and recording my story - Completing my Memoir. Choosing daily to practice emotional regulation, self-soothing and other Cognitive Behavioural Therapy / Dialectical Behavioural therapy strategies I've found that: facilitate remission of FND, OCD, PTSD, Anxiety and improve my mood, functioning and resilience. Finally using supportive strategies, recommended by mental health practitioners, to achieve my mental-health goals. Specifically, the prevention of a relapse into the complex seizures I experienced in 2020-21, before I was able to acquire the care and support I desperately needed.
🤩🤩🤩 Importantly, to this end:
I choose self-care today, 🤪 because I've been slacking off and ought to know better. *Darn those automatic thoughts!
As of January 26th, 2022
🥰 I've given myself permission to take a self-care break from creating new content at writeradvocatejocelynb.com
✅ I'll be back (date to be decided).
Meanwhile, I'm prioritizing a few of my
Non-Negotiables as I continue to:
1. Complete the manuscript for my #mentalhealth memoir, which is shaping up nicely.
2. Complete coursework (currently underway)
3. Volunteer Support for the Stigma-Free Society as a Stigma-Free Champion, and content creator for their School Staff Mental Health Toolkit.
4. Volunteer Zoom Host for the Family Caregivers of British Columbia for their Intensive Journal Workshop's with Bill Israel.
Image Credit to one of my favourite artists: