There’s no shortage of advice out there when it comes to the importance of looking after ourselves. The trouble is, a lot of this advice involves adding more to our ‘to do’ lists, rather than helping us streamline things and reach out for support.
Query: If we’re to put on our own oxygen masks first, why is ”Self-care’ 3/4 of the way through ‘Learning the Ropes’?
Answer: Because in my family’s experience, our struggles were a result of 2 main factors:
Learning how to interact with the healthcare system, and
Not recognizing our support systems or knowing how to ask for more help.
In the first 7 weeks of ‘Learning the Ropes’, we have worked to understand and navigate more effectively in a 21st century healthcare system and to identify and develop our support networks.
These definitely count towards lowering our external stressors and looking after ourselves.
This week we’re carrying on with addressing our ‘New Work’. This includes paying formal attention to looking after ourselves. It is certainly more unfamiliar territory!
The Wellness Wheel
There are many Wellness Wheel models – some have 4 quadrants, and others have up to 6, 7 or 8 ‘spokes’ or categories.
All have the same goal – to help us paint a picture or put numbers to different aspects of our lives so we can see where things are going well and to help us identify specifics of areas that might need more attention. (So we can LOOK FOR AND ASK FOR HELP!)
I’ve chosen one to modify that has 8 areas of consideration. Please don’t panic! We’re not trying to add more to our ‘to do’ lists, we’re trying to keep an even keel in a difficult time. Don’t forget that this can be a messy process.
To complete the ‘Wellness Wheel’, answer the questions in the one page quiz and then fill in the diagram with the results. Have fun. This is a snapshot of your current situation and a way to help hone in on areas where you may be finding yourself out of balance.
* Which challenges that you face along your healthcare journey are the most difficult?
Take some time to go over your results.
* What is one big thing you could ask for help with that would have massive impact?
* What is one big thing you can do/change that will have a positive impact on the areas requiring attention? Consider: Actions can have impact in multiple areas of your life!
* What resources are you looking for that you could use help finding?
* What local or online resources do you find helpful?
Next week we’re going to continue our focus on reviewing our progress so far and what we need to improve or maintain our balance.
Please reach out with any questions or online resources you’d like to share.
