Time for You!
By: Bonnie Budd
As we recently celebrated Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, I ask that you also celebrate YOU. You, as an amazing individual, should celebrate yourself on a daily basis. Self-love and self-care are easy to push aside in our daily hustle and bustle. But as they say, you also have to recharge and refuel, or you will be of limited use to those who need you.
For some, it is extremely challenging to carve out alone time or time away from your caregiver duties of your Rett Son or Daughter. But I am here to tell you, it is possible to block off time for yourself and make it a habit. Staying happy, healthy, and rejuvenated will lead to a better quality of life.
I personally use the Virgin Pulse Health App available through my employer. It has components that help me manage my daily step intake (you can also do this with a Fitbit or your smartphone); it links to My Fitness Pal to help track food intake across food groups with calorie and fat counting; a sleep component to track how much sleep is had; and mental health and yoga sessions with the WHIL app are linked.
Working full time at home, I find it’s very easy to not take a lunch break and dedicate that time to myself. I block-off calendar time and make sure I disconnect from my work emails, personal emails and texts, social media, etc. for at least 30 minutes. It’s important to still maintain balance. It just takes diligence. I challenge you to set up some routines. Take advantage of bedtime for your loved one to do something for you – read a book, listen to a podcast, listen to music, just do something you love. Schedule it on your phone, and DON’T say I will do it tomorrow (because we all know how that will end).
You matter; you are amazing and you deserve to be celebrated! Be brave, be bold, be YOU!
