Committing to self-care – A lesson to myself

Let’s face it, veterinarians and veterinary technicians are terrific at caring for everyone around them. They are not, however, terrific at caring for themselves.

I was reminded of this fact so many times in the past few weeks, as I was navigating a myriad of emotional, mental, and physical challenges.  Our hospital computers crashed and have been down for the past two weeks.  We were able to get one working, but one machine for 28 employees does not make things run smoothly.  We have been going at it “old-school” with pen, paper, and calculators for 14 days now.  In addition, several of my friends are dealing with health issues, which is always draining and emotionally challenging.  And, to top it all off, things around my house have been breaking down as if I invited Murphy himself to move in.  

I was juggling all of these things - I thought somewhat successfully - but I was totally neglecting to care for myself.  I was not sleeping well, eating poorly, skipping exercise, and concentrating on caring about everyone but me. We all do it – postponing our own care, to care for our patients, clients, families and our homes.   

So, as a reminder to myself and to all of you hard working, self-sacrificing veterinarians and veterinary technicians out there, I want to give us all a little reminder lesson about self-care.

Self-care is an activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health.  It is often thought of as some simple indulgence like taking a bubble bath to unwind, or having a glass of wine, but it is far from that. Self-care is something that needs to be deliberate and practiced – a part of our daily schedule.  It needs to be a commitment to our health and our life that is practiced regularly. 

Waiting until you are stressed out and wound up to take care of yourself is not self-care.  Routine things like, healthy eating, regular exercise, saving money, and setting boundaries around your time, are the things that really constitute self-care.  It takes commitment to do the things that are good for you every day without distracting your brain with food, wine, social media, or burying yourself in Netflix.  You have to have resolve and determination to put yourself and your needs first.  It takes some concentrated work to get to know yourself well, and to understand what your body and brain truly needs.  

Commit to understanding your priorities.  What do you really want from your life and how are you going to go about getting it?  Once you have your priorities in mind, commit yourself to them. What does your self-care routine look like when you invest in your priorities?  It takes a lot of commitment to say “no” to someone else, setting a boundary to protect your time.  It takes commitment to yourself, to allow your associates to cover for you while you go to therapy or attend an event at your child’s school.  Your priorities will help you separate the urgent and important from the urgent and unimportant.

Taking full responsibility for our own self-care will cause us to develop the energy and capacity to truly care for others without compromising our emotional and physical health.  We will be happier friends, better spouses, and better veterinary care professionals. 

Self-care is not something that you practice occasionally when you feel stressed or overwhelmed.  It is a daily commitment to your mind, your health, and your priorities.  

Practice some self-care every day.  This is the lesson that I want to share with you and myself today. 

It is a coach, coach thyself moment. 

Dr. Julie Cappel

“Self-care is giving the world the best of you instead of what’s left of you.”  Katie Reed

“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”  Brene’ Brown

“The most powerful relationship that you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” Diane Von Furstenberg