Running on fumes

Self-care means taking meaningful actions that support your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Think of it like keeping your gas tank topped off. Every day, you put gas in your tank so that you keep a consistent level and you’re never depleted. As a result, you’re maximizing your energy, you’re more efficient, you’re full and ready to go. 

Have you ever run out of gas? I have. I ride a little 50cc scooter, I can get about 90 miles on a 1 gallon tank of gas, and I push it to the limit. Why? Because, I don’t want to take the 2 minutes to stop and put a gallon of gas in the darn thing. Admittedly, I’ve been zooming off to an appointment, running on fumes and run out of gas… resulting in me walking and pushing my scooter to the nearest gas station to fill up. Which means - I wasted energy (walking and pushing my scooter), I was inefficient (walking took more time), and I was rushing (running late, NOT ready to go). 

Friends, I wish I could say this happened years ago and I’m a recovering fume runner. But alas, just a few weeks ago I realized while en route to meet a friend that I was both low on gas and didn’t have my wallet on me. While I didn’t run out of gas that time, I did stop multiple times to try to pay with Apple pay (to no avail). So… I was running late, and still didn’t get gas. It worked out that time, but that just isn’t always the case. 

Such is life. 

Sometimes it’s exhilarating to be on the go feeling like you’re maximizing your time and feeling you can do it all. Until you can’t. Until you wake up feeling exhausted and you’re not sure if you drank water yesterday or when the last time you ate an actual meal sitting down (been there too). But how long do those actions take? Minutes throughout your day? Perhaps 20-30 minutes to sit down, chew your food and enjoy a meal? 

It starts with the commitment to stop running on fumes and start giving yourself the fuel you need so you can live the life you desire. 

Commit to one act of refueling each day. Start with the basics: sleep (go to bed when you’re tired), water (keep it next to you, sip throughout the day), food (sit down to eat one meal, chew your food). Choose one to start, once you have it in place, you can add to it. 

Commit to yourself and embrace how it feels to keep your tank full knowing you’re energized, efficient, full and ready to go. 

With love,
Jodh

P.S. I’m committing to literally keeping my gas tank half full (I need to make it public!). What refueling habit are you committing to?