Editor’s Note: I admit I have been feeling quite anxious lately, with the constant barrage of bad news in world events and the state of the economy. Today’s post was written by fellow author Jim Cobb, published in his weekly Survival Weekly Dispatch, and it resonated with me. I am sharing the article with you today, with permission, the the hopes that it may help you as well.
Self-Care is Important
Written by Jim Cobb
One of the things regular readers of mine know is that I often try to call attention to lesser-discussed topics that fall under the preparedness umbrella. Self-care is one of them. I know, the term can be kind of off-putting. It sounds sort of New Age-y, but it is a real thing and it is something you should have in your wheelhouse, particularly as it relates to long-term situations.
What does self-care mean?
In a technical sense, at least as I understand it, it refers to things you do in order to keep or improve your health and well-being. As a practical matter, many people use the term to refer to things we do to relax and sort of stay sane in the wake of stress. That’s the angle I’d like to discuss here.
Down time on a regular basis is important and it becomes even more so when our lives get chaotic. Our bodies and minds need that break from stress. If it doesn’t happen willingly or voluntarily, they might, well, force the issue, perhaps going so far as causing breakdowns (physical or mental). This becomes even more important as time goes on during a crisis. Nobody can endure a near-constant state of anxiety for days or weeks on end.
In the last several months, many of us have been experiencing heightened levels of stress on an ongoing basis. One of the most glaring symptoms of this has been the increase in anger, resentment, and outright hostility exhibited on social media. Lately, it seems as though merely disagreeing with someone about what constitutes a “nice day” is grounds for death threats. Many people seem to have forgotten that there is an actual living, breathing human being at the other end of the discussion. They type out things that they’d never say in person, whether because of at least a degree of civility when face-to-face or because they know they’d have their asses handed to them.
While this pandemic has thrown a wrench in the works for most of us, there are still many things that we can do in an effort to lower our stress and anxiety. One self-care approach that I particularly recommend is to unplug from social media, and the Internet as a whole, on a regular basis. Take a step back and remember what life was like before our society became dominated by pixels and devices.
Self-Care Ideas
Here are some other suggestions. Pick one or two that might work for you and give them a shot. Not every one of these will work or even be viable for every person, of course. Hopefully you’ll come up with some ideas of your own as well. Keep in mind that one of the basic rules you should follow for self-care is that it should be good for body and mind. In other words, neither a junk food fest nor overindulging in alcohol or other mood-altering substances is recommended.
–Hug your dog (highly recommended).
–Go for a walk, ideally somewhere that doesn’t have sidewalks.
–Curl up on the couch with a favorite book or movie.
–Exercise.
–Cook your favorite meal from scratch.
–Put on a sad movie and let yourself sob your way through it. For some, this release is exactly what they need.
–Range therapy.
The idea is to find things that will ease your mind and allow you to either relax or work off some stress. Bonus points if you’re able to come up with approaches that can be done with little or no impact on your wallet, thus avoiding added financial stress.
Perhaps most important – give yourself permission to stand down, to relax, from time to time. It is critically important for body, mind, and spirit.
About Jim Cobb:
Jim Cobb has been a prepper since long before that term ever came into use. He’s been studying, practicing, and now teaching survival and preparedness for about 30 years. Jim has written several books on the subject, including Prepper’s Home Defense, Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide, and Prepper’s Financial Guide. He the Editor in Chief for both Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide magazines.
Follow Jim at https://www.facebook.com/jim.cobb.739/.
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