Compassion Fatigue Solutions

October is always a busy training month but this one takes the cake. I am just back from Timmins and Oshawa, I will be in Edmonton this week, then teaching at the Crisis Institute next week and then off to upstate New York for a three day course on the first weekend of November. I am not complaining, mind you, but my training schedule has meant that I have had to put a few projects on temporary hold until things quiet down a bit. The workbook is there, waiting to be proofread and sent to the printer, as are the questionnaires from the book project, which have been carefully filled out and returned and are awaiting my rapt attention. November will be a time for these projects, I hope.

Part of the dilemma when you have a private practice and a consulting business is finding the right balance between the two: I enjoy working individually with clients and do not want to stop doing clinics, and I also enjoy the workshops and training. Finally, I like to have time to read and write and think and come up with new ideas.
This is the eternal quest for the ideal schedule. Something that is not necessarily attainable but I keep on inching towards a closer approximation.

What would your ideal schedule look like?

However, never a slave to work, I am someone who protects my down time carefully and make sure I get plenty of sleep and good food and exercise. Today, Sunday, I prepared a spaghetti squash casserole and apple crisp for tonight's supper, went for a run in the gorgeous Fall morning, parented (an ongoing activity...!) and read a fascinating article on Dr Stephen Hwang, (see Globe and Mail Toronto section Saturday October 18th). Dr Hwang is a leading researcher in the field of homelessness who also works as a family doctor at Seaton House, Toronto's largest homeless shelter. I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read about this deeply caring man. Then I found a lead for a tasty $9.95 portuguese wine that tastes like it costs $14.95 and a recipe for a fragrant vietnamese soup. That, to me, is a day well spent.

Experience has taught me that there are some key things that need to remain intact even when I am busy to allow me to retain my equilibrium: plenty of sleep, healthy eating, exercise and some fresh air. Do you know what those are for you?