Thursday, February 28, 2013

The "How" of a Simple Life

I have been so encouraged by the recent influx of comments that I have received regarding my recent streak of blog entries! Some have been via email, others verbal, and still others, actual comments on the blog. I love, welcome, and appreciate the feed-back! Keep it coming!

A few of you have mentioned that the theme of the simple life has resonated with you, or has been something you've been working on as well. It seems many people are coming to the realisation that I have as well: we need to stop killing ourselves with convenience, stop to take a deep breathe, and once we do, we will enjoy life.

I think very few people disagree with me that our lives are lived in a fast-paced world and could use a little TLC for the benefit of ourselves and those around us. But we struggle with the how. How can I slow down? How can I afford to? What does it take to live a simple life?

I come to you with answers from Kate Hanley who blogs at Ms. Mindbody. She offers several practical suggestions taking the guesswork out of life. She specifically focuses in her post on self-care. Self-care is an important part of the simplified life, because when we take care of our own selves, we are better equipped to care for others. So, without further ado, here is Kate's list of ideas for better self-care habits.
  • Set up some structures - "structure creates freedom"
  • Set up a schedule
  • Commit to a plan
  • Tie self-care to daily events
  • Let go of how long ______ "should" last
  • Set intentions
  • Flip your view of resistance. "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek" (Joseph Campbell)
Which ones are you already doing? Which ones do you need to work on? I think my strong-point is setting up structure, a schedule, and a plan, but then having unrealistic expectations (such as, I should do _____ for X minutes a day, or I should do ______ at this time of the day) and then become discouraged when I fail to meet them. 

Read Kate's full post here

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Disclaimer: If you have a health resource you can't resist sharing, I would love to hear about it if you feel it will be truly helpful. I am already doing my best to fight this illness from a nutritional, structural, as well as medical stand-point. Please avoid comments with "miracle cure" stories about your Aunt Milly's granddaughter who drank coltsfoot tea for a week and has been fine ever since. I'm very thankful it worked for her in her case, but there are so many environmental, emotional, and other factors that make CFS/ME complicated and different from just an average illness. That being said, please leave thoughtful and uplifting comments below.