The weather this winter has been fierce and seems to be continuing into spring. That’s the weather outside of us. How is the weather inside you doing? This winter saw more snow than we have seen in a long time. Piles and piles of the stuff, at first delighting the children and even, secretly, their parents with the promise of days off from school and work, sitting around drinking hot chocolate after making The BEST Snowman, Ever.
It kept falling. And falling. We kept shoveling. After days of this, it was not fun anymore. It was no longer beautiful, white and fluffy but a treacherous, icy gray. We had accidents on it. We got tired of removing it. And if we heard, “Let It Snow” one more time on the radio, we were going to scream.
Sometimes our lives are like this weather. We experience a welcome change. Perhaps a new job, a new baby, a new husband. All is wonderful for a while, all shiny and fascinating and beautiful.
Then, if we are not careful, the “new” wears off and one day it just seems all too hard. Taking care of another person, much as we love them, sometimes begins to resemble a chore as bad as shoveling snow. Those diapers just don’t stop, any more than the snow has.
That’s when we have to be careful to watch out for bad storms of the heart. We women tend to try and do everything for as long as we can, then when we can’t deal with it anymore, blow up into a tempest, saying and doing things we don’t mean and would never do if we just weren’t so tired.
The idea of self-care is to take care of ourselves physically and emotionally so that we will have the strength and resilience to take care of the others we love. Kind of like making sure we have milk and bread before the storm hits. Like keeping the fire stoked and drinking some of that hot chocolate, ourselves.
Let others help you. Realize you don’t have to do everything perfectly. Take a deep breath and get a big hug or give one.
Life is stressful. Even happy events can stress us out. When we recognize this, we can begin to take steps to prepare ourselves for the inevitable storms, and in doing so, can see the snow as beautiful once more.
Even so – I’m glad spring is peeking its head up!
It kept falling. And falling. We kept shoveling. After days of this, it was not fun anymore. It was no longer beautiful, white and fluffy but a treacherous, icy gray. We had accidents on it. We got tired of removing it. And if we heard, “Let It Snow” one more time on the radio, we were going to scream.
Sometimes our lives are like this weather. We experience a welcome change. Perhaps a new job, a new baby, a new husband. All is wonderful for a while, all shiny and fascinating and beautiful.
Then, if we are not careful, the “new” wears off and one day it just seems all too hard. Taking care of another person, much as we love them, sometimes begins to resemble a chore as bad as shoveling snow. Those diapers just don’t stop, any more than the snow has.
That’s when we have to be careful to watch out for bad storms of the heart. We women tend to try and do everything for as long as we can, then when we can’t deal with it anymore, blow up into a tempest, saying and doing things we don’t mean and would never do if we just weren’t so tired.
The idea of self-care is to take care of ourselves physically and emotionally so that we will have the strength and resilience to take care of the others we love. Kind of like making sure we have milk and bread before the storm hits. Like keeping the fire stoked and drinking some of that hot chocolate, ourselves.
Let others help you. Realize you don’t have to do everything perfectly. Take a deep breath and get a big hug or give one.
Life is stressful. Even happy events can stress us out. When we recognize this, we can begin to take steps to prepare ourselves for the inevitable storms, and in doing so, can see the snow as beautiful once more.
Even so – I’m glad spring is peeking its head up!
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