Sunday, March 18, 2012

Self-Care on Training Wheels.

Self-care is a very trendy subject -whether it be a hot tub experience, taking a walk, listening to music or simply having a quiet time to reflect. The world is very fast paced. It gives you that feeling that you want to hit the breaks, stop the spin, and step off the world for a little while. It reminds me of an Eddie Arnold song; "Make The World Go Away"...get it off my shoulder. You can't make the world go away but you can get the stress off your shoulder by allowing a little self-care time.So what about you time? Will you put time in your schedule to do a little self-care ? Collecting old sayings is a hobby of mine and I selected this one because it isn't ancient and it will span a wide age group. Then too, I heard it from my daughter's college coaching days; "if you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you do good" . She was encouraging her team to keep in good physical fitness shape through exercise and good eating habits.My daughter is a runner. She trains for half marathons daily. She runs to stay in shape physically, mentally , and for that "feel good attitude. So I started to think about "what about me time ". I really had to laugh yesterday. I was passing by a neighbor sitting in a lawn chair enjoying the beautiful sunshine. I smiled, waved at him and said; I am on my training wheels". He laughed as I shuffled by on my "Cadillac four-wheeled walker. The bright blue one with breaks,four wheels, a seat, and a basket to carry things. The walker came about after a bad injury to my left ankle and foot.I had to use it to be able to walk again and share a walk with friends., as you can see in the picture. I can walk short distances and around the house without it, but need it for long distances. As I grow older my legs are stiffening up. So, I need some self-care. I can't run, but I can walk.Now I am in training to walk a 5k, It is something I can do. I can train each day by walking the trails where I live. In bad weather I can use the indoor track at the clubhouse. It even gets better! I can reach a goal each day by increasing my distance each day.I can lose weight and breath in fresh air. Next month for my 80th birthday I will pull out my "Cadillac" walker and do a 5K completing an important goal.Hopefully my daughter will run it and be at the finishing line when I come through.