The Importance of Self-Care

Let me say at the beginning that I am not the best advocate for self-care, although I am learning! And if there is one thing we have learned from the recent heat wave, it is that we only truly care for ourselves when we are forced to do so. We live in the whirl of modern life where our brain tells us to rush on and on regardless – and we only stop when the warning signs, (like June’s blisteringly hot days) are all around us.
 
There is always a fine balance in life – sometimes we must push through, and sometimes we must not. This wisdom is gained through age and experience. I was brought up to work hard, do everything; and I was not encouraged to ask for help. We just got on and did it. Now, after 64 years of living (I can hardly believe that number and it is certainly not how I define myself) I can see where pushing through has worked (it led me to become a minister in Unity) and where it has not (I took on too much and did not ask for help).
 
Wisdom and age are wonderful things. One of the things I claimed at the end of menopause was the understanding that I could now become a ‘wise woman’ – someone with years of experience who did not have to do everything anymore. What a joy! In claiming this I could step back a little, ‘take my foot off the gas’, and be able to share more of what I had learned, without pushing and driving everything (although I still do that as well – more learning to do!)
 
So, how are you at self-care? Take a moment to reflect … in recent times, have you pushed through regardless; or found the balance and taken care of yourself? Or perhaps you sat back and did nothing, feeling stuck and overwhelmed with life.
 
Please know, I do not advocate anything as right or wrong. Life is a learning experience and one we come to with the tools we were given, or not given, as children. However, self-care is important, and something I believe we all need to practise.
 
So please, look after yourself; take time to be still and be with God; let Divine Heart and Mind be your experience – and then do what is yours to do, leaving the rest for another time or another person.
 
Charles Fillmore is quoted saying, at the age of 96, “I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm and spring forth with a mighty faith to do the things that ought to be done by me.” The wisdom here, the self-care, is to do the things that ought to be done by me! So, take time regularly to stop, be still, go within and check – what is mine to do today.
 
Rev Kimerie Mapletoft
Director of Silent Unity and Daily Word UK

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