Self Care is More Important Than Ever These Days

An Old Lady’s Deep Thoughts #6

My Photo

Where do I begin?

I feel like crap. I’m an empath which means I not only experience personal pain but also feel the pain of others. I don’t even have to know you. All I need to do is read an article about your suffering and I will lose sleep.

Guaranteed.

Many people are stressed out. According to my therapist, the United States is going through a mental health crisis. All ages, socio-economic brackets, and educational levels are anxious. Apparently, when my therapist first started his practice over 40 years ago, depression was the #1 condition he treated. These days, it’s anxiety.

I’ve experienced my fair share of this societal ill.

I won’t go into my history of insomnia and anxiety right now. Maybe later, we can delve a little deeper into the topic. Life is complicated and modern life is complicated on steroids.

We know too much for our own good.

I know that sounds weird, but human progress has given most of us a higher understanding of just how risky life can be. The internet and constant news streams mess with our feelings of wellbeing. Everyone is more aware and consequently has had an enormous amount of personal responsibility thrust upon them.

Politics has taken the place of religion.

Where once upon a time the church messed with our heads, now politics has become the all-consuming, 24 hours a day narrative that controls our thoughts and personal identities. Church attendance has drastically fallen off. Instead of church leaders using superstition to keep us engaged with their Sunday morning message, we now spend every day listening to podcasts, nonstop news stations, and consuming online propaganda. Unfortunately, misinformation is as likely as factual reporting, leaving those of us who care about the truth to figure out what’s what on our own.

We rarely have a spare moment without checking our phones for the latest absurd stories.

No wonder our nerves are frayed and our sense of wellbeing disrupted. We are being bombarded with so much information that our brains no longer have space left for anything else. That means the good thoughts have largely disappeared.

We must take better care of ourselves. I must take better care of myself.

How do we do this? Well, it may be different for everyone, but I can still remember what my life was like before the internet. I plan to recreate that time period for a big portion of each day.

My spare time was spent differently back in the day.

I owned a single TV where I could access three stations, one of which was PBS. When I was away from home, I had no way of calling anyone or checking the latest news. I spent a lot more time with friends and colleagues. I also enjoyed creative outlets. I wrote, sang, acted, and painted. Often, I came home from work and didn’t even turn on the TV because I was enjoying my creative interests. I also read loads of books. Since I was a child, books were my friends.

The above seems simple, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, it isn’t. Most of us are in and out of the internet all day. I’ve determined, however, that if I want to take better care of myself by lowering my anxiety burden, then I must change my ways.

So here’s my plan.

1. When I’m home either silence my phone or even better put it in a drawer in another room. Leave it there. If someone wants to call or text me, I’ll find it later on and can get back to them then.
2. Spend more time outdoors, walking, working in the garden, and enjoying the fresh air without my phone.
3. Read more books.
4. Limit the news on my phone. I can do that by going into my settings and turning off the continual flow of information.
5. Choose a news outlet that’s less emotionally charged.
6. Only check the news twice a day and never for more than 15 minutes.
7. Spend no more than 15 minutes a day on social media as well. Although I’m beginning to think I’d benefit from quitting social media entirely.
8. Arrange more face-to-face contact with friends, family, and acquaintances.

This is a start. If I really want to reduce my anxiety level, then I need to change the way I do things. Modern life is complicated, but I’m not helpless. There are still ways to sidestep the messiness of the 21st century.

What do you think?

Teresa is an author and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.