The stewardship significance of self-care

Mental health struggles have certainly spoken into my life, and it took me some time to realise how much of a role my self-care played in the overall balance of my mental, emotional and spiritual health.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll recognise that self-care is pivotal regarding overall well-being. And I have discovered there are three crucial facets to a self-care that feeds vitality into my soul.

This article taps into the vitalising components of self-care for stewardship. Stewardship is little more than taking our own responsibility for ourselves—something we can never ask another person or others to do for us. Only we ourselves can do what we must do, to not only survive, but to thrive.

1.     DIET

Given that I gave up alcohol and cigarettes (among other vices) many years ago, and given that I’m firmly committed to Christ, I find diet is kind of the last frontier in terms of temptation of ‘substance’. When my diet is reasonably tight, and my fruit and vegetable intake is high, and my sugar intake is lower, I feel incredible.

But I lapse easily and quickly at times, and binging is still something that I’m occasionally prone to doing, especially if I’ve been triggered.

I have found the best ally to an effective commitment to diet is simple obedience to a sensible diet one day at a time, especially with regard to portion size and not snacking.

2.    EXERCISE

This is a bit like diet for well-being. When I’m exercising well, my mental and emotional health soars, and joy, thankfulness and gratitude can ascend through the roof. Yet, so often when I’ve felt irritable within, it’s taken me while to register, “Ah, yes, I haven’t exercised for a few weeks!”

Exercise is not only good for endorphin (good biochemical) release, but it’s great for our muscles, which gives our bodies a great relaxed feeling, and it also gives us a sense of achievement.

As far as stewardship is concerned, being prepared to get out of bed early to hit the gym, or being prepared to suffer the ‘pain’ of feeling horrible when I’ve started my exercise regime, has shown me the value of taking responsibility for how my body feels.

3.    SLEEP

By far and away, the biggest, most crucial factor related to self-care is sleep. I know many of you will have sleep disorders or at least disordered sleep, so I don’t pretend that this is simple. But we simply must get enough sleep, and enough quality sleep, if we’re to be the stewards of our own minds and bodies.

I have found napping (<20 minutes="" or="">90 minutes) has been pivotal. But also knowing how much sleep between the 6-8 hour per night band that’s optimal is crucial. Also, getting to bed early and having the discipline to wake early is key, because these doing-things-early practices are key for practicing readiness.

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Self-care is a personal responsibility. It’s okay if we’re not good at it, because at least we recognise it’s something we yearn to improve. If that’s the case, we best plan; plan the work and then work the plan.

Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash