Journal of Sacred Work

Note: Guest Reflection by Terry Chapman PhD

I’m sure you’ve seen the video of a jet plane in trouble as the oxygen masks drop to the terrified passengers below? Giving yourself oxygen first before giving it to kids or other needy folks is plain common sense:  you will not be able to help others if you fail to help yourself first!  You will better face caregiving challenges over a longer lifetime if you follow one
simple but challenging rule. Remember to eat reasonably, take quiet time, exercise regularly, and find wonder in your everyday round of activities to enliven your spirit! What do I mean by wonder?

Wonder can be found when you leave your easy chair and head outside to indulge yourself in such simple pleasures as noting the changing leaf colorations as you walk around your neighborhood, pausing to say hello to anyone you pass. Take a sustained deep breath; is the air moist or dry? Can you smell any wood smells? Do you hear any bird calls or songs? Are you thankful for all God has given you? As you walk, create a mental bucket list of those things you have always wanted to do. Let yourself imagine the joy you will feel in pursuing each of these ideas.  How about taking that river cruise you’ve always dreamed of? Or maybe take that gardening or Spanish class you have thought about for years?

My current list includes returning to my home city of Washington, D.C. to leisurely take in all its treasures! Also traveling to the Virginia Peninsula to visit civil war sites between Richmond and Norfolk; breaking 90 in golf several more times; catching a 20” Brown Trout on a self-made fly; and on it goes. What does your list look like? Revise it often and make it your quest.

Now I realize you might say, “But I can’t stop caring for my loved ones or my patients, or clients, or good friends, or church or lodge or fraternity or community agency.”  But you’ll never fulfill those primary caregiver goals unless your physical, mental, and spiritual health  sustains you through  your travails and challenges. Living a highly productive caring and satisfying life is only achieved by balancing and juggling your care of others with a solid dose of self caring behaviors!  

– By Terry Chapman