YOU CAN'T GIVE YOUR BEST WHEN YOU'RE NOT AT YOUR BEST…

Have you ever tried to make a major decision when you were feeling stressed, tired or sick? 

How did it turn out? 

Did stress, fatigue or illness cloud your judgement? 

Do you feel guilty when you try to take a day off for your physical or mental well-being?

To do your best and give your best, you need to be at your best emotionally and physically.  We often ignore the early warning signs of stress, fatigue or illness and continue to press through our work and days as if our bodies will somehow be able to keep up against the odds.  Even if we do take a day off to rest, we may feel guilty and anxious which isn’t really resting at all!

In our high-pressure society, hardworking people often feel guilty when they get ill either mentally or physically and know they need to take a day of rest (or several days) and instead continue to push themselves to achieve in midst of physical or mental exhaustion.  It’s surely true that some of our best decisions and competencies don’t thrive in this kind of space.

To put it in a better perspective...

Here are a few things YOU MAY MISS if you do not take care of yourself:

1. Visiting your crowded local Emergency Clinic
2. Heart attack or stroke
3. A harder than usual day at work
4. Passing your illness to a colleague or forgetting critical details at an important meeting
5. A restful day (or several) in bed allowing your mind and body to heal
6. Making bad decisions at work and home
7. Emotional outbursts
8. Losing competency in tasks that were once easy

I could go on, but I think you get my point here.  We are just not able to provide the world around us with our best when we neglect to take care of our physical and emotional needs in times of illness, stress and fatigue.

Our bodies often give us warning signs and tell us when we need to rest.  If we ignore those warning signs and keep pushing forward, we are not only cheating ourselves, but those around us from all that we have to offer.

So, give yourself and those around you guilt-free permission to take time to rest when you know health is at stake.  Work will always be there, but you may not!

On that note, I am going to rest because I have been very ill!

Sheri