Checklist for Myself

One thing I've learned over the years (often the hard way) is that I have to take care of myself or I cannot be of any help to anyone else. Thankfully, through the last couple of weeks I've had a lot of people who care about me help me take care of myself. It's wonderful to know there are those kind of people in your life.

Since moving up to Michigan late last Wednesday, I've been wanting to get some things together for my personal mental health. Today I accomplished part of that checklist, which feels really great.

First, I found out about a resource for people affected by cancer in the Grand Rapids area through the mother of a friend of mine. It's called Gilda's Club and it looks amazing! Not only do they offer weekly support meetings for both cancer patients and family members, they offer tons of other classes and groups as well, everything from watercolors and other art classes, to craft classes, to exercise classes and it's all free of charge for members. The best part of it is that there are no membership fees, it's more a commitment to try out some of the groups for a while that makes you a member. I could just cry I am so grateful! I was specifically thinking about looking for some sort of exercise classes and maybe art classes to get involved with, and now they are right in front of me and I don't have to figure out how to afford them. So I'm all signed up for the "New Members Meeting" next Monday, which I'm really excited about.

Second, I set up an appointment with a therapist today. Sadly, the person that someone gave me a referral for is booked until at least May. I know myself, and I just can't wait that long at the moment. So I asked the receptionist if there was someone else with similar specialties that I could see, and I now have an appointment for tomorrow, which I'm hoping will be really good for me.

Last major checklist item I completed today was putting in my 2 weeks notice at work. I'm really just thankful I'm not trying to be a caregiver for anyone but my love right now, as I would probably be an emotional wreck and not very helpful to my clients.

So yeah, pretty good day all in all, important to take care of me through all this.