I was going to wait till this weekend to write about this week’s five minute friday topic, then I suddenly got an idea and decided to go ahead. I’ll post the blog I’ve been working on tomorrow instead. Woo!
Today’s topic:
Somedays you have to be your own cheerleader.
An advocate for yourself. Your own friend first.
You know on airplanes when they say “put your own oxygen mask on before helping others with theirs”? It could apply to life too.
You have to cheer for yourself– take care of yourself– before you can take care of anyone else. If I can’t cheer for myself, how can I cheer and back up anyone else?
i mentioned tonight on the #fmfparty twitter hangout that I took 2 naps today. while post-college has given me ample time to nap (and I love me some naps), this has been a daily occurance for about 3 weeks now. Every day, I wake up with no energy. Zero. Without doing anything to warrant it, i fall into bed or the couch into a nap. And this has been happening every. day. since I came home from school.
I’m not busy or have a ton of things I do every day to warrant a nap– I’m home with the dogs all day. yet as soon as I have a minute to myself, instead of doing chores or things I should be doing, I pass out. And i wake up exhausted.
At first I thought I might be catching up on sleep after a restless few weeks of crazy college and graduation madness. But when I wake up, I wake up more tired. Fatigued. No energy whatsoever.
I realized that this was a problem that no one could fix but me. I can’t help anyone from this fatigued, energy-less state.
So, as much as I HATE asking for help– as much as I HATE doing things for me (because I hate feeling selfish), I knew I had to be my own cheerleader and advocate and reach out for some help.
So I emailed my doctor.
Right before graduation, my antidepressant got upped 10 milligrams. I didn’t start taking it until I got home– when the crazy fatigue/nap-o-rama started. I guessed that this could be a side effect of the new dosage. So, I talked. And I’m talking to her tomorrow about either switching medicine or fiddling with the dosage again.
Because I have to take care of myself before I cheer anyone else on– even if I hate having to cheer for myself at all.
I’m so glad you went to bat for yourself on this, Jordan.
I do know the exhausted feeling; I push until I pass out from pain, and will spend a large part of the day on the kitchen floor, too weak to move, but hurting too much to find it truly restful Pain invades unconsciousness, and it’s ugly.
Love you, dear Jordan! Always so glad to see you here!
goodness gracious, I could not even IMAGINE, friend. Exhaustion is no joke.
Love you friend! Always thankful to see your name pop up in the comments! <3
I hope that you get this straightened out friend. It is so important to advocate for ourselves. I too would much rather cheer for everyone else before myself. But I’ve learned I must cheer for myself too.
Thanks friend! I know, I’m the same way– but we can’t fill each other up if we aren’t full ourselves. I’ve learned that the hard way!! <3
I’m glad you are cheering for yourself and reaching out for help. It is hard to do that sometimes, because we all love cheering others. You’re right, though, if we don’t take care of ourselves, how can we take care of others well? Blessings to you! I’m your neighbor at Five Minute Friday. I was at the #fmfparty for a short time tonight. 🙂
Thank you Gayl! I agree- I love working with others, but I need to help myself first. Self-care is so important! Thanks for visiting <3
Good for you, hon! Antidepressants are tough. One little change and your whole body goes nuts. Praying that you and your doctor arrive at a solution quickly! In the meantime, don’t beat yourself up for napping. It’s okay. Jesus loves you even if all you do today is breathe.