Escape, Recharge, Invest: The Three Types of Self-Care

Making sure that you are well is good for your family and good for you. When we are well, we are able to handle challenges with intention and grace. When we are unwell, it becomes easier to say and do things that we later regret. I’m going to go over three categories of self-care–ways people manage their energy balance–and how to decide which activities work best to help us go through life with at least some grace. This post is an extension of an earlier one on compassion fatigue.

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Drain Less, Replenish More: Staving off Compassion Fatigue

You open yourself up to the pain of others, in order to be a true companion for them, a comforting presence in the middle of a terrible experience. You can tell it helps them, sometimes, to share their pain with you – someone who understands and cares. And as you share of yourself so generously with more and more people, you find that it is taking a toll on you. It is exhausting to experience so much secondhand suffering. It is draining. It sucks the color out of your own life, leaves you depleted, less able to connect with the next person and to enjoy your own life.

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