Sleepy, those nails sound great - definitely something I'd do. Haha, EM, damn straight it's okay to be okay.

Today, I:

- Had a massive sleep-in. Not deliberately, but I did it and it counts!

- Talked out a possible big life change with my partner. He was super supportive and encouraging.

- Brainstormed about a new haircut.

Lol about the nail polish... I tried to find nail polish remover last night and we have none left!

Today's self-care is buying 2 bottles of np remover lol.

Recent self-care:

* phoned 1800RESPECT last night and spoke with a trauma psych

* ate a frozen dinner

* came onto the forums

EMxxxx

My 3 self-care things:

* bought a freshly squeezed juice at the shopping centre

* spoke with fiancee over the phone

* had a wonderful long scrub in the shower and washed my hair.

Couldn't buy the np remover lol, it was too expensive in the shop we saw it in.
Hopefully can get some tomorrow.

EMxxxx

love fresh juice - great treat!!

today I -

read an interesting book about pregrancy (not pregnant, but interesting to read...)
spoke to a lovely woman with whom I have common interests

put aside some things that were stressing me out in my home to think about at another date.

Lovely SC things Sleeps!

I saw this....

"In a society that says "put yourself last" self-love and self-acceptance are almost revolutionary".
Brene Brown

I Googled "radical self care" and a plethora of stuff came up!

It's GORGEOUS!

I want to plug my laptop into the printer and print some of these out for the "throne room" lol.
It'll be too noisy this time of the night but some of the pages are BEAUTIFUL!

I'm going to do A LOT more for myself tomorrow and I'm actually looking forward to it!

Tonight I:

* reheated some Chinese food for dinner

* went to bed super early bec I had a headache

* drank lots of water and feel better for it.

Love EM

Hi all. Any luck with the nail polish remover, EM?

Today, I:

- Went for a walk with my partner (we're allowed outside to exercise again now, haha).

- Attended an online counselling session (which I actually found more useful than seeing my psych).

- Hopped on my exercise bike and watched an episode of Man Down while I rode. That was fun.

Blues Clues.

Man Down, yes, love it. Something to get the ‘feel good’ hormones going. Greg Davies awkwardness is a corker!

- went to visit a friend (as a family)

-all got ice cream

- spent some time mowing the lawn (i somehow find mowing On the ride-on to be really relaxing)

Take care, and have an awesome day.

Not_Batman

Hey Blue, Yes! lol but it was my eldest daughter who ended up buying the np remover for me late last night bec I forgot to put it on my shopping list - again lol.

LOVE that you're allowed outside again :-))

Not_Batman, the ride on lawn mower sounds AWESOME!

My "radical" self-care things:
* took today off work - my head was still dull and heavy but I'm glad to have averted a migraine.

* bought some yummy healthy food yesterday AND some treats!

* made a decision to try to download some Super to pay for MH care costs, dental work and a pleasant Christmas for us all.

Love EM

yesterday

3 self care things

Did some exercise

Did some writing

Spoke to a friend

- had a nap

- texted my friend and told her what was going on - she had some nice comments

- watched a comedy when i was feeling low. Laughing despite myself

Nice

Is what it is and works for who it works for

Really sorry, just my nite is not good

I took my very much needed anti depressant that I didn’t realise I needed (very new to anti depressants and only on week 3 :)

I finally handed in my sons playgroup application & talked to one of the teachers there & was surprised I wasn’t as overwhelmed like usual so for that I give myself a 10/10 effort today. Very proud of my progress.

Lastly, I visited a few family members that I usually try to avoid. I didn’t technically go inside there house or talk to them but I made it to the front of their house still inside my safety bubble (car) so that’s a start. Overall I feel very great.

you're doing such awesome self care Anon1997, thank you for sharing that!

Once you pushed yourself to spend time with your family, did it go ok? Well done on doing that!

looked in the mirror (don't usually).

Read a little bit

Called Lifeline after my first day of work (emotions)

Well done Sleepy. One step at a time.

I hope day 2 of work is much better.

Not_Batman

A HUGE warm welcome to new posters b_dnerdz and Anon1997!

I'm SO PROUD of you all!

EVERY one is welcome to share ANY self-care things you've done and anything else you'd like to share.
If you're having difficulties DOING self-care things then we know what that's like, hey Sleepy21!!
Share away!

Remember, we won't do self-care "when we feel better", we do self-care TO feel and GET better!
When we feel better it's not such a chore, it's just our routine lol. I hope!

Love EM

Well done Sleepy! First day back at work hey??

I think that means MORE self-care! lol.

Great one Not_Batman!

My self-care things today:

* cleaned and filed my fingernails

* ate well today

* spent extra time on my hair, used girly stuff in it too - wow hey lol, so it looked nice for work

* avoided doing the grocery shopping bec I felt too tired

* asked for help from a friend who's expertise is what I need right now - asking for help is a BIG thing for me, I'm so glad I did!

* will have a nice nap soon.

Love EM

Had the day off work. Had been counting down for weeks.

• slept in for an hour
• plumbed in a new water tank
• Washed the cars
• had a nap on the couch
• tested the fire pump

now to pray for rain. Anybody know any effective rain dances?!?

Not_Batman

Hi Not_Batman - I'm also one for a nap on the couch!

- bought a new mug for my tea/hot choc

- went to a support group, read the paper

- listened to some music in the car (Blinding Lights, The Weeknd, total mood-changer)

Hello gorgeous self-caring peeps lol, I am LOVING your work wow... our NBN has been down for a few days so I got LOTS of housework and a bit of self-care in too! LOL...

Yesterday / today I:
* had TWO cool baths - a heatwave was smashing us! ugh.
* filed my nails
* went to a "dental spa" lol... I'm sure the name is supposed to reduce anxiety lol... whatevs
* drank LITRES of water
* bought the sweetest Christmassy jewellery - NICE!

Got a HUGE week this week, lots of things on day and night.

Hope everyone's travelling well!

LOVE EM

Hey everyone, nice work respectively on self care and reaching out for those of you struggling with keeping up the self care. Not_Batman, nice that someone else knows Man Down. It's such a daft show, but I outright guffaw at some of the antics.

Today has been a tough day, self care has been a struggle. Only really managed one thing for myself, I made lamingtons.

Hey Blues.

Lamingtons...mmmmm nice one!

here to listen to you!

NotBatman

Hey Blue, sorry to hear you've been feeling down, hugs!
When we're caring for someone else on top of ourselves, it's even MORE important to do self-care and we ALL need you, including all your beautiful birdies there.

Anyway I'd count lamingtons as FIFTEEN steps of self-care LOL!
I've only made them ONCE and woah... IDK if I could do it again lol.

Being kind to ourselves is also self-care.

Indeed we are always here to listen. More hugs.

My self-care today so far:
* pressing the snooze button lol
* making a nice cup of tea and sitting in my garden
* making lunches and cutting up fruit for today
* coming onto the forums.

Another trip to the dental spa after work.... I can hear the self-care talk already.

Love EM

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kindness from all of you. EM, you're right - being a carer is definitely what's chipping into my self care at the moment. Of course I want to do all I can for my man, but it sure makes it a struggle to be there for myself. I was lined up to have just one day of doing my own thing this week and it didn't happen. The burn-out really hit me.

The lamingtons came out pretty well, a little crisp on top but the sponge inside was soft and moist, the icing just the right consistency. Pretty good considering I've never made them before. Messy process but kinda fun, too.

Sleepy, Man Down is indeed an English show - very low brow comedy, lots of swearing and general absurdity. Good for a bit of simple fun.

Today:

- Lamington for breakfast. No guilt!

- Unsuccessful, but tried once again to get an idea for my future off the ground. Sigh. I did try, gotta remember it counts.

- Sharing this stuff with you guys. It's become very clear I downplay my struggles a lot and often when it feels to me like I'm just about screaming "I'm not okay!", those around me just aren't reading it.

Dear Blue, I feel like I know you so well already.

I know you're a strong independent person. You're unlikely to ask ANY ONE for help.

Remember that saying "no man is an island?" well it goes for women too!!

Pouring SO MUCH of yourself in to someone who's needed ongoing care, consideration and physical help is alot. Esp with the emotional overload of physical ill health he's suffering.

If there's ANY help available then I'd ask for it.
The BB helpline gave me LOTS of numbers to call and websites to read up on when I had a crisis period earlier this year over my estranged mother's conditions.
You can always phone a helpline.

On the other hand I've experienced so much frustration at crisis points in my life in just having to make relentless calls to ppl, so many to no avail at all.
This process is NOT easy either.

Taking a break and a breather from "life" ie pressing pause even if only for 15 mins can be a short recharge. These moments can help.

Thinking of you.
Love EM

You've got me pegged, EM. I absolutely suck at asking for help. Partly because I would rather do things for myself, and partly because I have a long history (prior to my current relationship) of a whole lot of nothing happening on the rare occasions I have asked for help. The funny part is when I have received help it has inevitably been from someone on the sidelines who has grown tired of watching me try my butt off and get nowhere, it never has anything to do with asking for it.

As for numbers to call and websites to check out... I have been down that road through many a crisis and as a general rule come away from it feeling a lot worse than when I started. Honestly, Googling adjacent topics and removing direct human contact from the equation, whilst somewhat inadequate, has consistently proven the vastly superior option.

That said, my partner has been feeling well enough today to be able to do his own thing with minimal help from me. As a result, a bit of self care has actually happened.

- Accepted that it was okay not to have the birds out of their cages for the whole day, popped them to bed and got stuck into some housework.

- Went for a walk to the wetlands near home. Even jogged a little, which isn't exactly typical for me.

- Saving this space, might play a game or watch a thing soon.

Hey Blues - i'm sending you cheers for that gorgeous wetlands walk.
And also I just like reading what you write and can often relate to a lot of what you say. I call 1800 Respect but this is quite new for me... before that I was quite freaked out by the whole concept and felt that I'd just feel sadder.
So I can understand that to some extent.
But one called last year saved my life and since then i'm into it a bit more - i like the helplines and like the generoisty of it. I found they actually cared more than my do-nothing therapist and they gave me the confidence to kick him to the curb :) I hope you feel relaxed and enjoyed that beautiful jog/walk

- bought something I needed and chose the option I could have quickest - It's crucial for my health

- Stopped at an IGA and bought a juice to cool down from the heat

- Stood up for myself when someone in a shop was being pushy with me. I actually showed her she couldn't mess with me and I'm extremely proud