Your Health...

[catfan]

Health, it's a subject I have been pondering a good bit lately, specifically my health and how I view my responsibility towards my health. I'm sure many of you are immediately thinking health = physical well being. Well, I have been thinking of life health, by that I mean physical health/well being, spiritual health, emotional health and financial health.

All four definitely take a more than nasty beating during such difficult times of our lives. Having met a good number of newbies lately and seeing how they are doing really started me thinking, what are "we" doing to insure our overall health, what am I doing? Are we taking care of ourselves physically? Are we managing our financial situation responsibly? Are we looking after our emotional and mental states objectively And is faith/spirituality part of our lives?

Having to attend to any one of them extremely close is difficult but now we find ourselves in situations that demand we attend to all of them with equal importance and effort. Over the last 18 months it seems that for me I've been able to attend to one or two at a time but never all of them. Often I'd focus on one or two and sometimes three while paying lip service to the others. A nice convenient way to make myself feel like I had it altogether. But now I realize it's time to quit juggling and start living a healthy life.

For me the one that seems to be where I falter the most is physical well being. It's just way to easy to plop down on the sofa after work and do nothing, think of nothing and just "be". Along with it is eating. It's just way to easy to settle for something simple to make for dinner like pasta or fast food. But even worse is when the emotional well being is low it masks itself as physical exhaustion so it's real easy to grab a beer or glass of wine to help bring about relaxation or even worse head to the freezer and pull out the ice cream. (OK, OK I'll eat ice cream ANY time because I love it so much.)

I've finally hit a point where I feel strong enough or feel good about my spirituality, emotional well being and financial stability. It's time to do what I have spent a life time NOT doing and that's take care of the physical well being! Now to share one of the reason I have this change in mind set...I've gained 15 pounds since January! So much for the "divorce diet!!"

Seriously it's the weight gain that really signaled to me the state of the other healths. I'd lost 27 pounds the previous year simply because I wasn't eating, I was worrying about our situation and how could I fix it, what were my mistakes and failings, how can I fix those, my finances, my family's finances, my family, my kids, why my wife walked away, how is she holding up, why I was laid off, was I going to find another job, what was my future, my family's future, how can I manage my newly diagnosed ADHD and the one thousand and one other things that race through my mind at any given moment.

So with the weight gain I realized I was coming to peace and balance with several of the "well beings." I'd come to peace with each as I formulated a plan or made decisions around that area of life. I'm now formulating my overall health plan and am looking forward to getting it completely in place, finally adding physical health to a good spiritual, financial and emotional plan.

This all leads me to this, to ask, how is your health? Got a plan?

[7 Year Itch]

Good question. I think of this alot too. For me, I'm afraid right now I've only got one in the right place and that is Spiritual. Thank God for my Faith, most days I feel it is the only thing getting me through.

Physically. I'm not taking care of myself. I've lost 25 lbs (luckily I had it to lose, and I'm now at my original weight I was when H and I started dating 12 years ago). Because I still have the girls to care for, I am cooking well, but I just have no appetite. And sleep, well it hasn't really happened either. I need to start working on this area.

Financially. I've been a stay at home mom for 7 years, so I'm totally dependant on him, and am overwhelmed and now trying to get back in the work force, and hoping I can earn what I need to stay in our current house so the girls don't have to change houses, schools, friends etc along with everything. This has been VERY daunting to me, and stressful.

Emotionally........ still basket case. H just moved out yesterday, so I'm hoping when I don't see him constantly I can start to get stronger. I was seeing an IC, but she was one of those "listener" types, and really gave me no input more than my friends and family can do. So I'm now in the hunt for a new counselor that will be more solution bases. Hoping this well help me feel stronger. I need to get stronger in this area for my girls so much, and hoping Gal and the separation will help, but I admit....2 months in, I think I'm as devesated as I was the day the bomb dropped. I have never felt weak in my life, but I feel just so broken emotionally right now.

Lots of work to do here I'm afraid.

Chris

[LolaL]

Hmmmm. Those are interesting questions.

Spiritually...after a 15 or so year sabatical, I finally found a church I like. My faith in God is strong, and I realize that once you leave the situation up to God, alot of weight is taken off your shoulders. I feel this is because we never had control of it in the first place, and by trying to control it we have stressed ourselves out even more.

Financially...oh HE double toothpicks, we are a financial mess right now. We are going to have to file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, but that is the repayment plan. Is a horrible stigma, and yet I think it is a chance for us to get out from under the financial mess.

Emotional - I have been seeing a great counselor who has helped me tremendously in dealing with a lot of unresolved issues.

Physically - verified couch potatoe. I should get up more, but I do so much running at work by the end of the day, I just don't feel like it. I do eat okay...being broke takes away the need for fast food!!