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Right #3 You Have the Right to...Take Care of Yourself!

Guest post by: Sheryl Nicholson

Article Overview: I have a confession to make. Like many of you, I'm a single mom who's been without insurance - for eight years. In that time I cared for sick and dying parents (they passed away just 4 months apart). I also moved in with my ex-husband and cared for him while he fought cancer (he's now in remission). And I continually care for my diabetic daughter, help with my grandchildren, work on another daughter's ventures, market my business, work, write, and in the meantime take plenty of vitamins, aspirins, sinus tabs, Nyquil, and diet pills. I fall into bed at night exhausted, often only to stare at the TV or the ceiling. I was recently coaching a physician who shocked me with this eye-opener. Years ago, she said, it was the talk of the emergency room when a 49-year-old came in with a heart att

Right #3 You Have the Right to...Take Care of Yourself!

I have a confession to make. Like many of you, I'm a single mom who's been without insurance - for eight years. In that time I cared for sick and dying parents (they passed away just 4 months apart). I also moved in with my ex-husband and cared for him while he fought cancer (he's now in remission). And I continually care for my diabetic daughter, help with my grandchildren, work on another daughter's ventures, market my business, work, write, and in the meantime take plenty of vitamins, aspirins, sinus tabs, Nyquil, and diet pills. I fall into bed at night exhausted, often only to stare at the TV or the ceiling.

I was recently coaching a physician who shocked me with this eye-opener. Years ago, she said, it was the talk of the emergency room when a 49-year-old came in with a heart attack. Yesterday it was a 29-year-old...woman. Why? Maybe...the fast paced world of today's working woman. In our work environment there's competition, stress, and the playing of politics, and in our personal lives we do for everyone else - but not for ourselves.

Years ago I met Judy, my daughter's potential mother-in-law. Judy worked in the same location as her husband so that they could share the car trip to and from work. She packed lunch every morning for their two teenage sons so that they could get that extra protein they needed as high school wrestlers. She was often up late at night ironing clothes, and I even saw her on her hands and knees scrubbing the baseboards with a toothbrush to make sure they were dust and dirt free.

She attended every wrestling match, sang in the church choir, did caroling in the neighborhood at Christmas, volunteered for many organizations, and kept her door open for friends, neighbors, and family.

Judy also had very short hair and a very round tummy. Always laughing, she was a ball of energy. Then she found out she had ovarian cancer. She quietly confessed to me that she had had symptoms for years and ignored them because she didn't feel she had the right to put her "desire" to go to the doctor first. She felt her boys "needed" her time more than she did.

It was heart wrenching to see her deteriorate very quickly and watch the morphine steal the sparkle from her eyes. And she was right - her boys still need her even though she is gone.

I believe every person who crosses your path brings a gift to life's party, and Judy brought me several. Probably the most important one was the life lesson that

You Have the Right to...Take Care of Yourself!

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Article Tags: business work, energy, ill, self esteem, sick, vitamins



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