Throughout all the struggles in my life and getting to know my disability more as time went on the more I got to know myself. The more I learned about my disability, the more I knew how I, and others, can take care of me. When I was younger I didn't know myself and my disability as well as I do now. When you know yourself well it's easier to take care of yourself. I also think God intends for us to know ourselves so that we can better take care of the body that God has given to us to do His work. But that's a whole other topic. The things I would like to talk about is the importance of taking care of yourself physically and emotionally.
When it comes to taking care of yourself and your body it is important to know what you need when your body needs it. I feel like over the years I have learned a lot about myself and my disability and how my body functions. Throughout middle school and high school I experienced constant stomach issues, and I missed out on a lot of my childhood being stuck in bed. I missed out on going to school, being apart of a group of friends, and family events and more. Even though I feel like I missed out on a lot of things I still feel like God had a purpose in those moments, but it was still hard at the time. Now that I am gluten free and dairy free I feel so much better. Sometimes I cheat and will have some gluten or dairy but when I do that I have to pay for that later. I also take medications and vitamins, yet sometimes I won't always take them when I know that I should. I still try and take what I need to take so I can have a healthy body. Getting enough sleep at night so you can feel good the next day is so important. Feeling energized to do the things you want or work on what you need to do that day is easier with a good night sleep. So from saying all that it's important that we take care of ourselves and do what we feel our body needs so we can feel good and healthy.
It is just as important to take care of ourselves emotionally as it is to take care of ourselves physically. It's also important to make sure we are keeping our emotions stable and our attitudes positive. "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" Proverbs 17:22 Some things I do to stay positive are...
1. Long walks
2. Talk to a friend about how i feel
3. Journal about how I feel
4. Pray
5.Being around my dogs
6.Writing blog posts
Doing some of these things can help you stay positive and stay emotionally on track. With my disability I have learned how important it is to keep myself emotionally healthy and I hope others can see how important it is to take care of yourself and how to manage your struggles. Perhaps the list of things I wrote that help me can help you. Try and find your own things that can help you emotionally.