A few years ago, a buddy told me he’d cashed in a bunch of sick days to give himself a “self care week”.
His strategy:
Ordering takeout and finishing an entire MyCareer on NBA 2k.
I know I’m preaching here, but that ‘aint no mfxcking self-care.
Swapping psychological stress for neurological stress…
(ie. going on a dopamine bender via. video games, social media, binge-watching, etc)
…Is not going to de-stress you, it’s just going to stress you differently.
(as he put it afterwards — “now I need a vacation from my vacation”)
Remember:
Self-care means giving yourself what you need, not what you think you want.
It means re-building your energy through activities that build energy:
Sleep, good food, nature, friends, meditation, qigong, even exercise in some cases.
It doesn’t mean strapping yourself to the couch and beating Zelda in two weeks.
(ask me how I know…)
Anyway, I’m a big fan of self-care done right; the right type, in the right dose, at the right time.
And that is exactly what I plan to give myself.