Being Good to Yourself

Among performers, the week before a show opens is known as hell week. No matter how carefully you plan and prepare there are always unforeseen obstacles and emergencies. Hell week for Grease at my school was no different. Within a few hours, I jumped each hurdle. We had three very successful performances. Playing piano for and co-directing a show is intense. I also had three Masses to play this weekend and our traditional Saturday cast pig out at Village Inn after the show.

Today, I tried to take it easy. I did my after school rehearsal with the show choir. Some of the girls stayed late with me because we were researching options for the spring show. As I left school, I mentioned that I should go walk 3 miles. I have slacked during the last weeks of the show. One of my seniors turned to me and said, "Miss Linda, you need to go home and rest. Are you crazy?" She was right.

We are so used to feeling tired or sick or in pain, that we often push ourselves to compensate. Where a person with a cold or the flu will stop, rest and recover, we know there is no real recovery-just periods that are a little better than others. So, we soldier on and on and on. We need to be good to ourselves. (I don't follow my own advice very well, but my friends and students remind me.)

We expect an awful lot of ourselves. A useful exercise is to imagine that you are a healthy person and that someone you care about has a chronic illness. What would you expect of them? What help would you give them? What advice would you give them? Now, apply that to yourself. Why do we expect so much of ourselves? Why don't we ask for and accept the help we need?

We have to love ourselves enough to pay attention to what we need. We have to love ourselves enough to allow others to help us. We have to love ourselves enough to be good to ourselves.