Put on your own oxygen mask first. It’s the cardinal rule of caretakers, and yet it dawns on me that it’s often misunderstood.
You see, oxygen is what we need to stay alive. And many people (me included) aren’t always aware of the difference between what nourishes us and what simply numbs us. We stare at a screen to forget our stress. We indulge ourselves with ‘retail therapy’. Maybe we gossip or have too much to drink.
These things aren’t oxygen–they’re distractions. They may allow us to endure, but they are hardly reinvigorating.
So if life is stressful, and there are too many problems, and we really do need to put on our own oxygen mask first, step one is knowing what brings us joy rather than pleasure, what gives us strength and endurance, what nourishes our hearts both physically and spiritually.
It might be a brisk walk in the woods or a day of fly fishing.
It might be a cup of warm tea and a good book in a comfy chair.
It might be listening to a glorious symphony in the company of a good friend.
And almost certainly it involves connection with God, who “formed man from the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7).
Holy Spirit, when I am weary, refresh my soul with knowledge of You.
