I’ll be honest, friends: I’m tired. Physically, mentally, emotionally, I am exhausted. And I know I’ve said it before on this blog (and I’m sure I’ll say it again), but the world can really wear me down. It seems like every single week, something happens in the world that makes me sad, angry, upset or hopeless. And that’s without introducing anything from own life into the mix! While I haven’t really figured out how to handle these new challenges, I know what it starts with: taking time for what I need.
This isn’t a post about self-care or wellness, or even taking care of yourself. This is about making time for yourself. It might not sound like there’s a big difference between these ideas, but to me there is. I’ve had a pretty busy few weeks in my own life, and as someone who is both introverted and experiences anxiety, I knew that I would need some time to settle myself, relax if possible, and try to find my balance again.
But there’s something that’s a little difficult for me when it comes to taking time for myself. I don’t always know how or what to do, and somehow my time to myself becomes a stressful, complicated time that results in the opposite of what I was hoping to do.
There are a lot of things I know I need to work through, and I’m not afraid to say this is one of them. I don’t know how to take the time for myself because I’m afraid I won’t know how to do it well, and so I don’t end up taking the time…and then the cycle continues again the next time this happens.
Which is what leads me to the most important piece of the puzzle so far. When it comes to taking time for myself, my goal is to take pressure off what that time is, and instead focus on why I might need it. Some days, the world is just too much. Other days, I’m doing too much for my own good.
There are so many reasons why I might need time, but figuring out what those reasons are is never something I try to get to the bottom of – and it’s where I’d like to start. If I figure out why I feel the why I do, maybe that will help me get what I need. And at the end of the day, that might be what ends up helping me the most. Protect your peace this week my friends, and I hope you make time for yourselves.
How do you feel about the concept of making time for yourself? Is it as easy as it seems? Let me know in the comments!
My Brain's Not Broken 
One thing I did that totally changed so much was deleting Instagram and facebook. If really effed with my brain and how I felt.
I have trouble sitting still and then it completely exhausts me and puts me down since TBI. So I focus on one thing a day around home to feel like I’m contributing. I try my best to pace. I listen to audiobooks that are free from the library instead of always reading which wears me out and so much more. I have lots of what I have learned from on my blog with experiences in TBI.
Such a hard, bumpy road and so invisible.
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I also don’t follow the news and things that really affect my mindset and how I feel. I do anything I can not to add crap into my brain that affects it negatively. I also make sure to walk or exercise and take my mood stabilizer and note what I put in my body and how it all affects my mood and how I feel. I also do not use alcohol. I realized I don’t follow you because you have a TBI but it’s mental health focus blog but so many aspects of both are so interchangeable:)
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This is so helpful, the focus aspect of all of it is particularly hard for me. My brain moves in too many directions at once, and it takes a lot of effort to calm down and take a breath. Yeah, it’s amazing that even though our experiences might be so different, there’s a lot in common about that invisible, hard, bumpy road that you mentioned. I appreciate the insight, thank you!
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So many relations and my husband has mental health issues I never understood until my brain injury. Same with him being an Introvert and anyone else, I never understood until I listened to a great book about the power of introverts by Susan Cain and now have many introvert traits since my TBI. So many things that my TBI taught me once I stopped and slowed down since I never did pre injury and now I deal with so much I never did before. I love that I can at least learn from it and find the positives in it all and understand others like never before.
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Hobbies. Get more of them.
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Definitely need more, I’m at the point where I’m overthinking the hobbies I like because there only a few go-to’s that I have. I need a bigger list of things to pick from.
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If there’s anything you enjoyed as a kid, that might be a place to begin. 🙂
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Making time for oneself is an absolute priority, even if it means that one has to say “no”.
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It’s such a big priority, and so many of us (myself included) ignore it!
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