Warring for Self

Warrior Woman

This term has been resounding in my spirit all year. What does it mean? I saw this graphic and I really feel that this is who we are. We all have heard the Helen Reddy song, “I am woman”, (hear me roar!) This was a feminist anthem, and while it was good, and it served a purpose back in the ’70s, this is not what I am talking about.

We are women. We war. We war on behalf of our spouse. We war on behalf of our children. We war at work. We war at school. Some of us even war at church. However, do we war for ourselves?

What does that mean? As women, most of us are caregivers in one sense of the word or other. We put almost everyone and everything above ourselves. This is a good trait, a serving trait if you will, but it can be detrimental to our health.

Let me explain a few scenarios: You are stretched to the max with all your day-to-day activities, and have no time to prepare good home-cooked meals. You know you should, but there is always something that speaks louder: The deadline at the office; Little Johnny’s soccer practice; gymnastics for Sally, and of course, don’t forget weekly worship practice at the church. None of these things are wrong or bad. However, when we are too busy to take care of our nourishment, we are too busy.

Again, there is not one thing more that can be squeezed into the schedule, but when your BFF calls and needs you, you decide to shave a little time off here and there to accommodate that one more thing…. Occasionally this is OK, and maybe even needful. When it becomes a way of life, then we need to re-assess.

We need to war for our bodies. We need to war for our health. We need to war for our relaxation. We need to war for our peace, both emotional and spiritual.

We need to pull away. We need to look at the big picture. You see, if you don’t war for yourself, soon there will be no Warrior Woman to war for others.

Something to think about,

Until next time,

Dr. Polly