by Father Mark Goldasich
By the time you get this paper, I’m sure that I’ll still be celebrating 7-Eleven.
I should clarify that I don’t mean that chain of convenience stores. Rather, it’s July 11 (7/11) that’s special to me. First, it’s easy to remember; it’s also the feast day of St. Benedict, a favorite of mine; and it’s the date of my ordination to the priesthood, now 43 years ago.
One of the funny things that I recall from that day was convincing my parents that, although a Croatian tradition at my home parish of St. John the Baptist in Kansas City, Kansas, I was absolutely not going to walk the seven or eight blocks from my house to the church in my full vestments. The heat and humidity that day would have killed me about halfway there! They reluctantly agreed with their stubborn son.
While I naturally celebrate this midsummer time, apparently many other people all over the world need to be reminded to do so. That’s the reason behind International Self-Care Day on July 24.
If you’re wondering if this is just a silly excuse for a holiday, ponder this reflection called “Life’s Fast Pace,” found in William J. Bausch’s “A World of Stories for Preachers and Teachers”:
“Grandpa clocked in long hours on the railroad or in the mines, but when he came home there were no faxes waiting for him to answer, no cellular phones or email to interrupt his after-dinner smoke. Home was home, not a pit stop for data gathering before heading back to the office. Today, there is no downtime, no escape from other people. We have cellphones in the car and beepers in our pockets. We carry them to Disneyland, to the beach and to the bathroom.
“Says Dr. Mark Moskowitz of the Boston Medical Center, this means ‘that a lot of people are working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, even when they’re not technically at work. It’s a guaranteed formula for breakdown.’”
Some of the terms in the above reflection might appear a bit dated. That’s because those words were written over 25 years ago. If the pace of life was considered fast then, imagine how much more frantic it is today.
Self-Care Day invites people to prioritize staying well in all aspects of life — physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. As I wrote a few weeks ago, summertime can prove to be much busier than even the school year, as parents who have kids involved in multiple summer sports can attest to.
If we’re not healthy in all aspects of our lives, we not only suffer, but others around us do as well. Happily, self-care doesn’t need to be complicated, as the following suggestions show:
• Practice gratitude.
• Listen to relaxing music or read a good book or magazine.
• Get outside in nature and get some fresh air and exercise.
• Reach for fruits and vegetables for a snack over salty or sugary treats.
• Take a break from “screen time” for a few hours or even a whole day.
• Plan a weekly coffee break with a good friend.
• Learn to say no more often.
• Fix a delicious meal and take time to savor it with family.
• Laugh a whole lot more.
Sadly, sometimes people take a summer break from what is the most important element of self-care, our spiritual lives: going to Mass, prayer and meditation.
Of course, Jesus gave us the secret to a most fulfilling life when he reminded us of a “holy trinity” of love: God, neighbor . . . and self. I suspect if we neglect that very last one, we’ll not do well at those other two either.
