Surviving Trump Requires Self Care

If We’re Going to Survive Another Trump Presidency, We Must Learn to Care for Ourselves.

By Maya Mackey

Let’s face it. The election results are still daunting. and it’s more clear than ever that we are all going to need to take care of ourselves.  Our bodies, our communities and our mental health are all at stake right now.  In order to maintain even a modicum of sanity, we must learn how to fill up our physical, mental and emotional cups, and keep them filled.  

The National Institute of Wellness defines wellness as “an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful (fulfilling) existence.” 

Pfizer adds to that definition, “Wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, you’re thriving.”

I love Pfizer’s emphasis on practicing healthy habits because oftentimes, self care is talked about in a frivolous capitalistic way or as something that we’re all innately an expert in. Reframing self care as a practice helps us to take the pressure off and release perfectionism.

But how do you know what you need? How do you know what personal life requirements you should have in order to respect your peace and honor your capacity (that’s called boundaries). You want to take an audit of your own life. What do you spend the most time thinking about? Is there a gap in the ways you currently spend your time and the ways you want to spend your time?? There is often a disconnect between our actual life habits and our desired lifestyle.

Other questions to ponder: 

• How/what do you spend your money on? What are the patterns in how you utilize your finances?
• For whom and what do you show up for without hesitation?
• If you were forced to live in isolation and disconnected from all humans, what would you need in order to still be ok mentally and emotionally? In this scenario, let’s pretend food, water and shelter are already given to you.
• What upsets you?
• When do you feel most at peace?

You can also identify what your capacity is by noticing when you feel stressed out or irritated. If you find yourself always being “short” with folks, coming home exhausted from work every day, or stewing in resentment days after you’ve had an interaction with someone, you know that there’s a boundary issue. If it costs you your peace, it costs too much!

Additionally, some considerations for practicing basic self care are to eat well.  Budget properly so you know how much you can effectively spend on groceries and make the time for meal prep.  This will help ensure that your intention to eat better is actually realized.  Eating well gives you the energy needed to function properly at work–without falling asleep at our workstations or snapping at our co-workers. 

Getting 6-8 hours of sleep every night will help you wake up feeling rested and more alert.

Exercise! You may not feel like it, but  this is vital to your mental and physical health.  Exercising actually betters your mental health because physical movement releases endorphins, hormones that make you feel good.  Going to the gym,  walking in the park or  around the block, or working out to a fitness class on YouTube are all beneficial.

If you can, practice the big three–eat, sleep, and exercise well–on a daily basis.  If you practice the big three while also doing some personal inventory around what your life requirements need to be in order to feel sane, you’ll be on your way to becoming a self-care guru.

These next four years are going to be even wilder than the last four. It will take all of us to be in good mental, physical and spiritual shape  to build a greater coalition for a more just, more inclusive,  more progressive world. But before we can save the world, we must learn to save ourselves.

Please, dear reader, take good care of yourself!