Categories: uncategorized
Date: 17 January 2008 14:33:08
Currently, I am giving myself a gift. I am taking a break from the seemingly endless round of chores, errands and duties that go with running a life (and a home) to write a blog entry. I will then go and 'noodle about' for a bit on the web to turn off from the 'shoulds' and 'musts' for a while.
When Dr. Von Dithausen first prescribed the 'give yourself a gift' method of therapy, the emphasis was more on such things as buying a new CD or nice pair of shoes for yourself. Whilst that still stands, especially for those who usually spend money on other people but rarely on themselves, there are now additional aspects to be considered.
Other commodities that we often spend on others, but less frequently keep for our own benefit, are time, energy and emotional generosity (including pampering!). We need to be giving ourselves gifts of these types, too, possibly even more so than the monetary kind. By simply turning off for a while, doing something just for ourselves (without the guilt) and/or 'cutting ourselves some slack' when in a difficult place mentally, we atually become more robust people.
It may help to think of running our lives like managing a bank account. If you are always paying out, but rarely paying in and never saving, you soon end up in the red. After a while, even your day-to-day expenditure becomes hard, eventually to the point of bordering on the impossible if steps are not taken to rectify the deficit. Whilst we all have varying amounts of money, energy and even ability to 'be kind to ourselves' (tho this one can be improved upon!), we are all given the same amount of time. It makes sense to apportion the 24 hours per day we each recieve to ensure that the other raw materials of life are used most efficiently. Surely, then, the top priority would be to spend a reasonable amount of time to looking after the chief time-manager, so that they are more likely make wise decisions about the rest of life? And yes, wiblog reader, that means you!