the LIST

something i am constantly working with my clients on is the task of shifting their focus away from all the "woulda, coulda, shoulda's" (except i try to articulate it a little more professionally) and allow themselves to recognize the progress or small victories that have been accomplished, but are often overlooked. this is a very difficult task to some people - not so much for me...It's not that i spend too much time taking note of strengths as much as i don't spend enough time noting where change might be welcomed. i think i can air on the side on giving myself a few too many breaks. self-discipline just isn't always inherent for me, so every once in a while, i reign it back in and make mental notes of some things i would do more of, in an ideal world....today i figured why not actually write them down, look at them every so often and actually make an effort...genius. i think that's called follow-through, but i can't be entirely sure of course because i am very poor at it.
here goes:

I WOULD...

-buy fresh flowers every week to brighten up a room in my apartment.
-read up on social work models and techniques that would likely improve my practice
-spend within my means
-watch less reality TV and maybe a little more PBS
-try to actually make one of the million recipes i've cut out and saved over time (again, follow-through will be a theme)
-take vitamins and wear more sunscreen
-send more snail mail because heaven knows we get enough bills and junk mail that a friend's handwriting gracing a surprise hidden envelope would certainly bring a smile to my face
-eat less processed foods
-(wouldn't) pick at the skin around my nails when bored at a meeting or bite my nails during a suspenseful scene in a movie (ie. will the boy get the girl, will he!?? -- either way, my fingers should be OK by the end of it)
-draw and paint and create more, because i certainly wasn't given the gift of scientific logic or mathematical reasoning so i may as well exercise the side of the brain that i have on my side
-go to church every Sunday, because the essence of community overall seems to be getting lost in this day and age and what's more important that fostering your faith?

so those were some of the things i thought of today...and of course as i reread them now, it's fairly obvious to the social worker lens in me that this list is really peppered primarily with self-care strategies- whether relational, physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual...

so i'll get busy getting on that...love to know what others do for their own self-care needs!