The greatest gift we can give to the people we love and the causes we care about is our full attention — our zest, vitality, energy, enthusiasm and life force. But we can only give these things if we’re attending to our own physical, emotional and spiritual needs. If we feel drained and empty, we’re simply not able to be fully present with others. This is why self care is the opposite of being selfish. How can self care be selfish when it enables us to give more, do more and be more?
What do people remember most about you? It isn’t what you say. It isn’t even what you do. It’s how you make them feel. If you don’t feel great, you’ll struggle to help someone else feel great. We pick up on each other’s energy. I always tried to put on an optimistic front with my father. The last thing he needed was to see me tired and uninspired. But much as I would do my best to hide my exhaustion or frustration, he would always pick up on it, despite his dementia. If I was low on energy, he was low on energy. If I was genuinely excited about something, the feeling was contagious and Dad was soon showing the same enthusiasm that I felt.
How can we manage to practise self care, when there are so many competing demands on our time and energy? This is the subject of my third conversation with Lori La Bey on Alzheimer’s Speaks Radio. The interview is based on many of the concepts discussed in my book NeuroSlimming — Let your brain change your body but it applies to everyone who feels overstretched, overworked and over their to-do list. We can’t always change what’s going on around us, but we can always change what’s going on inside us.
Click here to learn to how to re-energise physically, psychologically and emotionally, when you feel that your energy is running out.
If you missed my two previous interviews on Alzheimer’s Speaks Radio about preventing and reversing dementia, you can listen to them here:
For interview #1: Dementia is no match for a daughter’s determination — click here.
For interview #2: How adventure prevents dementia — click here.
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Please share this Health-e-Byte with anyone who is constantly giving to others, and might not be giving enough to themselves.
Photo credit: I took this photo while walking through Lyndale Park Rose Garden in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Spending time in nature is my ultimate act of self care. Minneapolis is the home of Alzheimer’s Speaks Radio/Podcast.
