We’ve thought about life hungry stupidity, ordinary magic and personal medicine. Sue’s reminded us about our coping skills. Here’s something else we can do to protect ourselves when times are tough – create a well-being recipe.
I started thinking about this a few years ago with friends Lionel Joyce, Emma Foster and Nicki Howard. We each found it amazingly helpful – and enjoyable - to write a list of all the things we know about that help us to feel well and be well.
We each put together a set of ingredients for our own well-being recipes.
Here are the ingredients for my personal well-being recipe:
o Being loved, understood - and occasionally made fun of – by my family and friends
o Being hugged by people who care about me
o My children and grandchildren flourishing
o Helping people realise they have more ability and creativity than they thought
o Getting lost, then finding a way out
o The view from the top of Trevenque in the Sierra Nevada
Diving through ocean waves as they break onto the shore
o Taking Teddy the dog for a walk, and watching him roll around in the long grass
o Washing dishes (but not drying them)
o Reading novels, especially (recently) The Book Thief and Resistance
o Watching TV detective programmes with Sue
What ingredients would you put in your recipe?
Just creating the recipe helps you feel better.
Make sure there are some simple things on it, things you can do straight away and easily, as well as some big things. Ironing shirts is a great one for me, never fails!
Remember to keep your recipe somewhere safe, so you can find it when you’re getting stressed or down, and need to remind yourself what’s in it.
Update your recipe every now and then – some ingredients will always be there, others will change. That makes it even more interesting.
It would be great to know about the ingredients for your well-being recipe. Do share them with us.
