Taking Care of Me!

Over the years of being busy with kids, distracted by chronic illness, and becoming overweight and sedentary (okay, let me call it what it really is.... laziness), I have completely neglected myself.  I have fallen into a pattern of only taking care of myself at the absolute minimum.  I shower (most days), I get dressed (well, only sort of if I'm not going anywhere), and I remember to brush my teeth (although sometimes not until the afternoon).

Recently, I have made some efforts to do a little better on those things and add a few things to try to make myself look and feel better.  A little bit of mascara goes a long way.  Trying to wear some of my nicer clothes when I leave the house, rather than my old, stained shirts.

I have a couple of problem areas that really need some attention.  1) I'm a chronic, obsessive nail biter.  2) I have psoriasis on the bottoms of my feet (which goes along with my psoriatic arthritis).  As for the first, I need to get a handle on the biting habit, as well as being taking care of my nails which will make them less "chewable".  The second needs regular attention with topical prescriptions, which I am just never inclined to mess with.  For some reason I have a hang-up about having lotion-ey stuff on my hands unless it's hand lotion.  Actually, I don't like my hands in anything.  I like them dry - probably too dry.  It feels disgusting to touch any kind of raw meat.  I don't like doing dishes or using any types of cleaners for household purposes.  It all just feels yucky on my hands.  It's hard to explain how much this bothers me.  I'm sure it's some sort of weird psychological issue.

All that said, I'm making an effort to take care of these parts of me because if I do, I know I will feel better about myself.  Sometimes the psoriasis is so bad on my feet, that it cracks and bleeds and is very painful, giving me yet another excuse to avoid any type of physical activity.  I can't get strong and healthy unless I can be physically able to move around on my feet.

I am motivated today to make changes and create better habits.  These things will lead to feeling physically better about myself, which will in turn motivate me to take better care of myself.  This will eventually turn into a positive cycle of permanent change.