Self-care - Pandemic Edition

Matt Serel • Dec 11, 2020

The new normal requires a conscious recalibration of our self-care routine.

One thing that I always heard growing up was “do as I say, not as I do.” When I was a pain in the butt kid I didn’t like when adults said that and now that I am a “grown up” I find myself uttering the same phrase. If I wouldn’t take a piece of my own advice, why am I giving it out? This thought brings me to this moment and this blog…One thing that is so important is self-care. Taking care of your mind and body when you are rundown, overwhelmed, anxious or just need a break is essential; I am a huge advocate for it. Having said all of that, I’m the first person to tell you to engage in self-care but oftentimes I am the LAST person to do it for myself. Does this happen to anyone else? 


I can very easily fall into the trap of “I got this; I can handle the stuff that’s on my plate no problem.” With a global pandemic happening and all work/school activities moving virtual and my “office” being a mere 10 feet from the couch, the boundaries that I was used to were gone. I couldn’t leave work at work because work, the gym, and home were all in the same space and continue to be. With my boundaries gone; those things on my plate became heavier and heavier…


For me, self-care when it comes to work and other life activities mean going at a SUSTAINABLE pace. It’s really easy for me to say “yes” to absolutely everything. Oftentimes I’ve found that when I say yes too much, I can’t give a full effort into all of the things that I have said yes to. What ends up happening is what you could call a “domino effect”. Because I can’t give the full effort and attention that I want to, I don’t do as good of a job as I would like, then I am embarrassed about the work that I’ve done and I immediately go down the rabbit hole of “I am terrible at everything and everyone knows it.” Objectively, I know that none of those things are true but it’s so hard to be objective about something when I am totally immersed in the feelings I have about it. 


So, with the idea of a sustainable pace in mind, I have begun to actually take my own advice and utilize a little self-care. Working until 8pm was not an option. Being able to have a work/life balance became a focus for me. I would set up an alarm for myself so the end of the workday would end, and I could take care of my personal life. Whether that was exercise, going to a meeting, spending time with loved ones or just recharging while on the couch, it needed to become a priority. It was really hard at first to have to take my foot off of the gas pedal; it felt like I was doing something wrong. However, when things got hectic, I realized that I made the right decision for myself. 


I’ve recognized that when it comes to listening to my own advice about self-care, the idea of admitting I can’t handle something is what gets in my way. When I sift through that a little, the reality is that I get in my own way. Being able to say no to something can be so beneficial in the long-term and what it did for me was allow me to give 100% to a few things instead of 50% to a lot of things. Life is a marathon, not a sprint and I need to remember that moving at a sustainable pace will help me get closer to the finish line.

Worth the Wait: Megan's Path to Lasting Addiction Recovery and Purpose

By Megan Miller, CAC • 29 Oct, 2024
I grew up full of fear. Everything terrified me. I never felt comfortable in my own skin. It wasn’t until I started smoking pot at 14—because I was too afraid to stand up to peer pressure—that I finally felt a sense of freedom and relaxation for the first time. I chased that high for the next 16 years. Somehow, I managed to graduate college with an OxyContin addiction, and after that, with nothing tethering me to the real world, things got a lot worse. I went to detox for the first of many times in 2005. I left there thinking I wasn’t an addict and that my use had just gotten out of control. That denial kept me in and out of treatment for the next decade. Heroin became my entire life. I couldn’t hold a job, I overdosed, I got Hepatitis C from sharing needles, and I didn’t care about anything except getting high. I was so full of shame at what my life had become, but I just couldn’t stop. I was great at trying to stop, but I couldn’t stay stopped. The gift of desperation came to me in April 2012. I couldn’t keep living the way I was. I finally wanted to live instead of die. That compulsion to use left me when I finally surrendered to it. Today, I wake up grateful for the life I have. My 6-year-old daughter is the greatest joy of my life, and she has never seen me use. Today, with the support of my wonderful husband, my family, and my recovery network, I live a full life of joy and purpose. There is no more rewarding feeling in the world than sharing the gift of recovery with others.

Overdose Awareness Day: A Reflection on Hope and Recovery

By Dave Aumiller, CPS, NCPRSS • 03 Sep, 2024
Overdose. It’s a word that catches in my throat and a topic that stops me in my tracks. As a person in long-term recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD), I have overdosed many times. I have been revived by paramedics three times. Waking up in a hospital bed with no idea how I got there—scared. Or in the back of an ambulance, sick and angry for being Narcaned, a crazed hostage of my addicted mind. Or in a front yard, soaking wet from someone throwing me in a cold shower, unsuccessfully trying to revive me before leaving me outside—confused. These experiences don’t account for the countless times I have overdosed and been revived by a concerned party—now scarred by the trauma of my disease in its final stage, trying to carry out its final act, resulting in an untimely death. Overdose. After all of this, it was the kindness and care of others that made the difference between another chance and another day. Another dose of hope and life. An opportunity to begin again. On a day like today, reflecting on a topic that is so close to the heart of everyone connected to this reality, I am grateful. I am hopeful. I am humble. Because I know how lucky I am. How undeserving I was. And I live my amends and gratitude by doing my best to embody and live the values of a recovery that works. I also keep close to my heart, at the forefront of my mind, and on the tip of my tongue, the names of the countless others who weren’t as lucky as I. In honor of Overdose Awareness Day, I will say the names of my friends who weren’t fortunate enough to receive as many chances as I did, and I will live in their names—sober today and willing to extend a hand to anyone who needs it in their journey to recover and spread hope to both the sufferer and the caregiver.  Today, let us remember those we have lost, cherish the moments we have been given, and continue to fight for a future where overdose is a distant memory. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can spread hope.

Overdose Awareness Day: Survivor's Guilt Transformed into Hope

By Shannon Schwoeble, CPS • 29 Aug, 2024
I was devastated when I heard that another close friend I'd made in treatment was gone. Seven friends in my first six months—two had come into treatment, left, and passed away while I was still there. In the years that followed, many others who had walked this path alongside me were lost as well. Nine in my first year of recovery. I found myself asking, "Why am I still here? Why didn’t they ‘get it’?"  Survivor’s guilt was not something I expected to experience in recovery. It hit me hard and fast when I began my journey in 2011. I was terrified. I would sit and think about friends I had just seen or spoken to—did they seem different? Did they sound off? I was so scared of who I would lose next. Through my work with a therapist and finding my own voice, I learned to transform my survivor's guilt into hope. I realized that by using my voice, sharing my story, saying their names, and talking about the profound impact each of them had on me—in life and in death—I could help others understand that recovery is possible. Perhaps, something I share will give someone struggling a glimmer of hope that they, too, can find recovery. On Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, we remember and honor those we've lost to this devastating disease. In loving memory of Ben, Pat, Krista, Harry, Christina, Brook, Dustin, Jeff, Jamie, and everyone we have lost—you are remembered and loved, today and every day.
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