Compassion Fatigue Solutions

I'm on March Break with my kids this week so I'll just write briefly.

I am happy to report that the 5/30 challenge has been a raging success with my kids. My daughter asked me for a bowl of grapes yesterday at the usual "cheese and cracker" time of the day and said to me "you know, I'm actually starting to actually like eating fruit mom!" music to my ears. We were skiing this weekend and my son got an apple at the snack shack along with his, ahem, poutine. Ok it's not perfect but it seems that it has injected an awareness that was not there before. Plus, I never actually promised them anything if they completed the challenge, I just said "here's what you're supposed to be doing, at a minimum, let's track it for a while ok?" and they were off to the races.

As we move into Spring, I suggest taking stock of your basic self care needs: healthy eating, getting enough sleep, having non-trauma related hobbies and leisure activities, exercising 30 minutes a day, having an activity that replenishes you, going on a media fast for a week, resting each day for a little while. How are you doing on these? If you're not sure where to start, I suggest going back through my blog archives and reading through to see if something strikes your fancy. I also suggest not going at it alone - enlist a friend with whom to share your self care goal, someone who will cheer you on and keep you accountable in a gentle way.

Finally, start small: make one self care goal for Spring and stick to just that one goal and don't beat yourself up about the rest.