by Jannina Sweetenham
In January I had the chance to attend a weeklong workshop which included a number of sessions delivered by Kim Richards of the Self-Care Academy, addressing self care for nurses, and I had to ask myself the question
‘to what extent do I self-care?’
The answer was complex.
In many aspects of my life, I look after myself very well. I have spent a lot of time focusing on my psychological and spiritual health and have developed real skill in using my consciousness, exploring awe and wonder in the universe and finding ways of allowing myself to grow, by focusing upon my psychological needs. I have created a new model for understanding self and others, thereby developing effective relationships, which will be published in the next couple of months. I spend a lot of time helping other people to develop in these areas also, through my business as a consultant and lecturer in personal effectiveness, leadership and empowerment. My clients include health care professionals and school principals and their staff.
I am personally very happy: I love the work that I do, I have a wonderful husband and our lives genuinely contain a lot of joy. However, at 260lbs I am neither slim nor fit. I have tried just about every diet going. If the doctor suggests I talk with a nutritionist, it’s largely a waste of time – it’s not knowledge I lack, it’s motivation. Over the years I have come to think that willpower is a con: the people who just naturally get on with things don’t need it, whilst the rest of us blame ourselves for the lack of something which isn’t real.
I now believe that life is managed through focus and self-belief –
and we can all do something about them.
The timing of the self-care workshop was auspicious: I already had the sense that this was the start of a very meaningful year for me: almost as if I am entering the next phase of my life, in which the good stuff will continue but also, new and exciting things will happen. I resolved at the workshop, to lose some weight, and I confided this to my ‘accountability buddy’. But it occurred to me that I’d made this resolution many times before. I knew I wasn’t quite there yet.
As well as running my own business, I occasionally do some fundraising for the charity, Marie Curie Cancer Care, which is very close to my heart since I worked for them full time earlier in my career. The charity has many facets: research into cancer and palliative care, education and in-patient care but it also enables terminally ill individuals to receive expert nursing care in their own homes, a service highly valued by patients and their families. A few weeks after the self care workshop, the new brochures for fundraising activities organised for the next year arrived. In it was a trek in Nepal, walking in the foothills of the Annapurna mountains.
I have always wanted to go to Nepal, to experience the spiritual ambience of the country as well as the marvellous scenery. I knew this was my focus. And so, I’m signed up: I have created a plan of diet and walking for the next twelve months so that on January 20th 2011, I, along with about 20 other people (including my fantastic step daughter, Hannah) will set off on this life-changing trek.
Part of keeping focus on this goal, has been to make it public. I have never before told anyone exactly how much I weigh: I certainly would never have put it in writing to be published. But this is the beginning of a new phase in my life, one in which …
I truly engage with all aspects of self-care.
My journey has begun.
