Many people are surprised to learn how much better they feel when they simply focus on themselves for a change. Unfortunately, we often get caught up in the idea that self-care is a selfish act. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth, and the way that we take care of ourselves has a direct impact on how well we can care for those that rely on us the most.

Today, Keep The Fire Lit shares a few bits of tried-and-true advice on how to treat yourself well when you’re living with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Renewed Energy

 Because one of the main symptoms of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is fatigue, one of the best places to start your self-care efforts is to do things that revitalize and energize you. A few tips offered by Harvard Health include:

• Quit smoking
• Watch your sleep schedule
• Limit alcohol consumption
• Drink more water

 Self-Care for Mental Wellness

Self-care offers more than just physical benefits. When you prioritize the state of your mental well-being, you’ll be in a better mental and emotional state to best care for yourself. The main sources of stress for adults are typically money and the job we have that makes the money. It’s a vicious cycle that requires your time and attention. Something you can do here is to change jobs if stress at the office gives you anxiety, insomnia, or simply makes it harder for you to focus on yourself.

Even if you love your job, you may need to look for ways to reorganize your spending and saving habits so that you aren’t constantly worried about paying your mortgage. One thing many people overlook is utilizing the equity in their home to pay off debt (or even to start a business). Refinancing allows you to do this, which can either help you lower your mortgage payment or cash in on your equity (or both).

Calming Your Nerves

In addition to changing your job or your financial habits, you can also practice emotional self-care by using herbs and other natural remedies. Lavender, lemon balm, and chamomile are all herbs that you can easily brew into a mind-calming tea. Prayer, meditation, and journaling can also help you reset your emotional self so that you can best turn your attention to the things within you that need healing.

Physical Self-Care

Physical self-care runs the gamut of activities, from exercise to massages to keeping up with our healthcare appointments. For exercise, start with cardio activities, which can help improve your weight and your heart health. This could be something as simple as climbing stairs or jump roping. The Manual recommends starting with a light to moderate workout.

On the days when you simply don’t have the energy to work out, spend some time in the sun. Sunlight triggers your body’s natural vitamin D production. In addition to helping reduce the chances of getting certain types of cancer, vitamin D strengthens your immune system and can help lower your blood pressure.

Deepen Personal Connections

Spending quality time with friends and family has been shown to have numerous benefits for our mental and emotional well-being, making it an essential part of self-care. Sharing a meal together, like cooking a favorite family recipe or trying out a new dish, fosters a sense of connection and intimacy that can strengthen relationships and alleviate stress. Taking the time to prioritize these relationships can lead to a happier, healthier you.

Change Jobs

 While that might be easier said than done, the fact remains that if your current job isn’t giving you the satisfaction you need, you’re the only one who can change that situation. Luckily, there are plenty of job boards out there, not to mention resume tips and templates. That being said, your cover letter is often the first thing prospective employers see, so it’s worth taking some time to learn what a cover letter is in order to give yourself an advantage over the competition.

Find Your Balance Through Self-Care

Ultimately, self-care really is all about living well. And when you have any type of pre-existing health condition, taking care of yourself, both mentally and physically, can help you best manage your overall wellness battle. But as much as you have to take care of your body, don’t forget your mental and even financial wellness as well. Changing jobs, drinking tea to destress, and even looking for ways to save money, such as refinancing your home, can all help, but it’s up to you to take the first steps toward self-care control.

Keep The Fire Lit is here to help you stay motivated and live your best life. Let us know if you have any questions!

 

Bramble Patch Purpose

Is time management important to you? You may not have even thought about it until someone asked you to add one more to a long list of tasks or you got sent on a time management training course. Maybe you have just found that it’s impossible to do everything you might WANT to do? And you also realised that typical time management doesn’t mean anything to you. Have you ever thought of looking about you into nature for inspiration?

You CAN get everything done that you NEED to do if you take some tips from the bramble patch.

You may have brambles in your garden. Perhaps you planted them for their fruit or they may have just grown there and you would love to get rid of them! If you don’t have any brambles in your yard, there may be some in a rural location you visit to collect berries in the autumn.

Whether you have a bramble you love or not, almost everyone knows about the briar patch, the prickles and the juicy fruit but did you know you can also learn about time management from the bramble? Brambles are prickly shrubs with long looping thorny shoots – only the blackberry in the UK – but also including the raspberry in the US. There are thought to be 1,000 different varieties of bramble worldwide! So it is a widespread and successful plant. But how does it demonstrate time management?

Time Management starts with a Purpose.

(If you want to find out about your own purpose, scroll straight down to the bottom of this article now.)
The bramble has one purpose, to spread as far and wide as it can and to hold onto any territory it has gained. Any gardener knows that unwanted brambles are VERY difficult to remove and the longer you put it off, the harder it gets and the bigger the patch grows. In order to achieve its purpose, the bramble needs to hold onto the ground it has, spread into new areas and protect its core, in case of damage. These are its main goals.

Needs To Keep Ground Already Won

Protection

The bramble doesn’t want to get eaten by animals as a source of food, so its shoots have strong thorns that provide good protection from grazing animals. These thorns are also backward facing and can help shoots move rapidly through the undergrowth as they grow. The shoots grow in a tangle because their ends root into the ground, forming loops that rapidly create an impenetrable tangle.

Needs to Spread

Long arching shoots

In order to gain new ground, the bramble has to spread. It does that by getting resources (water, sunshine) and using these to send long shoots arching quickly into the air (to gain distance) and which then bend down to the ground. If the tip touches the ground, it sends out roots and a new plant becomes established.

Flowers and fruit

It also spreads by means of its fruit which is sweet and juicy and very attractive to many animals, including humans. The fruit includes seeds that are highly resistant to digestive system acids. They can also survive for 100 years! Animals eat the fruit and the seeds get scattered in their dung, so they have their own source of fertiliser ready made. The seeds create new bramble patches at a distance from the parent plant if they reach somewhere suitable.

Need To Protect Its Core

Brambles have a perennial underground rootstock. It is hidden below the earth, making it resistant to damage and possibly keeping it safe from fire.

So what is Your Purpose?

The bramble’s purpose is to spread as far and wide as it can. (OK, I know that a bramble doesn’t have a brain, nor does it appear to make conscious choices, however, its ACTIONS appear to be as good a way as any of determining what its purpose might be if it were a sentient being.)

What is your purpose? Why are you here, what is it you want to achieve?

Do you want just to survive and keep your head down, making as few waves as possible, just to get by?

Is your purpose to bring up your children as best you can?

Maybe it’s to be a success in your chosen employment or to win a race or achieve a difficult goal?

What Do You Need To Do To Achieve That Purpose?

The bramble needs to spread, to gain ground, (using looping shoots and seeds), it needs protection (thorns) and it needs to keep its core safe (perennial underground roots).

Brambles are highly successful plants, spreading aggressively, protecting themselves and keeping their core safe. They demonstrate time management through their actions in achieving their PURPOSE and in using their GOALS (spread, protect, hidden core) to achieve their purpose.

How can YOU copy the bramble and achieve YOUR purpose?

If you want to find your life purpose, watch this video:

https://youtu.be/js_Q27lMs_8

You can get the book at