You Can’t Be Brave If You’re Too Tired

As parents of kids with disabilities, ya know the thing that we forget about the most? Ourselves. As we stay hypervigilant on helping our kids face, and hopefully overcome, some of their biggest obstacles, the one thing that they need more than anything else is us, but some of us do a lousy job making sure to keep ourselves in the shape we need to in order to be resilient, dedicated and relentless.

I totally understand if you are already rolling your eyes at this email thinking, “Gosh, she just doesn’t get it! I don’t have any time for me.” I’ve been there, and when I don’t slow down, God does it for me, and when that happens it tends to stop me in my tracks. So, I hope you’ll take a minute and consider how to incorporate at least one of these tips into your daily life.

Here’s My TOP 3
Advocating for your kids and making sure that they have all that they need takes a heaping helping of bravery, but you CANNOT be brave if you’re tired! The good news is that there are ways to become a more optimally primed advocate.

1. Eat more green. Yes, that means food that is naturally green. Not through dyes or somehow conjured up in a lab. I know SO many people who are always trying to lose weight. Yes, I do know some people who have gotten to the point where they like and accept their size, however, every single person who I know that has gotten to the weight recommended by science as being their optimal weight, feels more energetic, less tired, happier when they look in the mirror and more ready to take on the world. While there are a TON of “professionals” out there who make a TON of money telling other people how to lose weight, here’s the secret… To change your size, shape, skin, and hair, put healthier food in your body, and eat less calories. Period! I just saved you thousands of dollars! LOL

2. Strength Training. If you want to get physically stronger, work your muscles. That means lifting or moving things that have weight to them so that you can break down muscle and build it back up. Just like nearly everything in life, you must break down to build up. Nearly everything BIG that we learn comes through some type of challenge. Just think of raising your kids. You knew NOTHING about how to raise a child with a disability, but here you are doing it! Your kid didn’t come with a manual. There is no one on earth who could have totally prepared you. But here you are! I can promise you that if you are feeling exhausted, strength training (even just 20 minutes a day 3-4 days a week) will make a difference. I am NOT telling you to go spend a gazillion dollars on a gym membership! During covid when I couldn’t access my equipment, I literally lifted paint cans and plumber’s wrenches 😮 (Everyone had bought out the weights at my local Target and Walmart). Check out FB Marketplace, or post to a FB group – there’s always someone looking to unload gym equipment.

3. Cardio. I saved the best for last. I have a LOT on my plate, and I am sure that many of you can relate! Doing cardio work is what saves my brain from combusting. I used to be a runner until I had to have a stress-test (go figure :o) The technician put me on the elevated treadmill to “stress me out”. After a few minutes of running in place, I told him that “this” is not stressful, but that I’d be happy to tell him about what was. As we both watched my blood pressure and heartrate as I ran, and then walked at a very fast pace, I discovered that my heart and lungs were pushed more by speed-walking than running, and I’ve been doing it ever since. Don’t think that you have to become a marathon runner to get your heart in shape. I promise you that the time that you’ll spend walking will have a brain-cleansing affect like nothing else can. If you have a smart watch or some other type of heart monitoring device, work to get your heartrate up to 120 + bpm for at least 30 minutes every other day. The endorphins that are released during cardio will help you gain more clarity in your thinking, reduce stress and anxiety and improve your overall mood.

Advocacy is important, but it can easily stress you out when you don’t have a body that is operating at it’s potential.

Refuse to NOT be great!!!

Sending you peace 🙂
Stacey