Allow Yourself to Have a Little Fun
When a caregiver wakes up in the morning and thinks about the day ahead, it is usually not with a sense of anticipation and joy. There can be a lot of monotony and drudgery in a caregiver’s daily routine.
That’s why I think it’s important to indulge in something on a regular basis that provides you with a little bit of guilty pleasure. My hairdresser learned that “cheating” one day a week helps helps her lose weight. Every Friday after weighing in at her Weight Watcher meeting, she drives to her favorite coffee shop and orders a large mocha-chino latte. Knowing that she can look forward to this treat once a week helps her stay on the program the other six days. (She’s lost more than 50 pounds.)
When the weather is bad, or when it’s difficult for me to leave the house, I ride my stationary bicycle and watch programs like “Glee” on my iPad. I peddle like crazy along with the high-energy music, hardly aware that I’m doing something that’s good for me. My husband would never watch these shows. He would think they are silly and frivolous. (He’s right, of course.) But the music and dancing energizes me and makes me feel happy. Fun, lighthearted musicals are my guilty pleasure, and I make no apologies for this indulgence.
Today I hope you’ll think about something you can do just for yourself. Indulging in a little treat once in a while could keep you from downing an entire bottle of wine after dinner or attacking a half-gallon of ice cream with a tablespoon in the middle of the night.
Go ahead, indulge in a little guilty pleasure. If it make others raise an eyebrow, so be it. You deserve to have a little fun.
If you need more ideas on how to care for yourself while caring for others, please click on this link to our self-care videos: Caregiver Help – Self Care
