Taking Care of Yourself

Anna Turner

Read me! Read me! Read me! The papers to be graded and the resource material for your lesson plans are all in competition for those precious few moments you have to get everything accomplished. Time. Does anyone ever have enough of it? Time to wake up and make that mad dash for the door. Time to set up for your classes before the bell rings. Time to teach. Time to grade. Time to do your homework. Time to do your "home work." Time to love your spouse. Time to enjoy your children. Is there ever enough time for you?

Before you get caught in the web of business and busyness, you must take care of yourself. Without your quiet time with God, are you really ready to face the world? God has given you the tasks; He will give you the strength. You must take the time to obtain that strength and spiritual insight.

Devotional time is the most important time spent in your day. To be able to complete your daily assignments effectively, you need to be an able servant. Of course, you have probably placed lesson plans, handouts, tests, and grading high on your priority list. However, have you considered the care of God's temple, your body? You cannot continue to serve God at full capacity unless you are fit to serve. Proper nutrition, regular exercise, and sufficient sleep are all vital components to good physical health.

When you eat, eat right. Cut up carrot sticks, cucumber slices, and broccoli spears, and place them in air-tight snack bags for fast lunches, snacks, salads, vegetable trays, stir- fry, or stews. (Slice an entire bag of carrots, stalks of celery, or wedge of green pepper in seconds by using a food processor.) Keep easily eaten fruit such as apples, bananas, and grapes on hand. Freezing peaches or applesauce in muffin tins when they are in season removing them from the tins storing them in freezer bags, and placing a fruit round in a small plastic container makes getting an individual serving of fruit an easy job. (This is also a great way to keep a sandwich cool if it is stored next to the thawing fruit.)

Avoid high sodium and high fat foods. Time taken to inspect the food labels will help you make quick by wise selections in the future. (The new labels and daily value information should promote faster and more precise evaluations.) Substitute skim or low-fat milk for whole milk. Keep cheese, sauces, mayonnaise, bacon bits, and other high fat or high sodium toppings to a minimum in casseroles, on vegetables, or on sandwiches. No-fat salad dressings or prepared mustard can provide a tasty substitute for mayonnaise on sandwiches.

Combine equal parts of ground turkey and ground round and freeze in serving sizes. (Make patties, freeze on waxed paper, remove and place in freezer bags. Cook the meat, remove visible grease, add water, boil, strain, place in pint freezer bags and freeze for future use in spaghetti, casseroles, soups, chili, etc.) Boil or broil your meats rather than frying or pan-frying them. Eat a balanced diet each day (2 servings of meat, 3 servings of milk, 2-4 servings of fruit, 3-5 servings of vegetables, and 6 or more servings of grains). The new food guidelines are easily remembered with the following jingle:

Two, three,	Two (meats), three (dairy),
Two to four,	Two to four (fruits),
Three to five,	Three to five (vegetables),
Six or more!	Six or more (grains)!

Be sure to include a good source of Vitamin C in your daily diet (citrus, broccoli, green peppers, strawberries, melons, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes) and Vitamin A every other day (beef liver, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, squash, cantaloupe, tomatoes, broccoli, turnip and mustard greens). Drink at least 6-8 servings of water daily. This is easily done if you drink water with every meal and keep a large glass or container of ice water on your desk. Optimum performance requires quality intake; eat nutritiously.

Place exercise on your schedule. Good intentions alone will not keep you in shape. You may be skinny as a pole or built like Adonis and still be out of cardiovascular shape. Include aerobic as well as muscle toning exercises to your daily schedule (or at least three or four times a week). Initiation of a consistent exercise program can increase your vitality, endurance, and strength. If you are completely out of shape, set reasonable goals to get into shape. If you are already is great physical health, continue to keep your body in subjection and in shape.

Time spent exercising not only increases your energy levels and promotes better health but also can be a time to think and learn. While you do your walking, jogging, or swimming laps, you can mentally evaluate teaching methods, plan new activities, pray for student needs, or create questions for review. Sometimes you can walk or exercise while listening to sermon tapes. If you have an exercise bicycle, treadmill, or exercise machine, you can usually read articles (sometimes a book can be balanced on the handles or secured with rubber bands) for research, enrichment, or enjoyment.

Just how does one go about getting enough rest? Jot down a specific plan to accomplish your tasks. Try to delegate work as much as possible. For instance, most teachers have used students to exchange papers and do initial grading in class. But students can also help put up bulletin boards, set up equipment for displays or demonstrations, and clean up the classroom for extra credit or just out of kindness. At home, children can make their own beds, clean their own rooms, and have their assigned household chores. Training your family to work as a team when they are young can help everyone in the home use their time more efficiently.

Dovetail (do more than one thing at a time) as many tasks as you can. You probably have been doing this all along but did not know there was a name for it. You can have the laundry going in the machine while you fix the salad as the noodles are boiling and talk on the phone to plan a Sunday School activity. You can wash the car on the lawn (which also waters the grass) and call out review questions to your child as he helps you and gets ready for the next day's class. As you drive home, make mental lists and seek ways to dovetail your activities, delegate work, and organize responsibilities. Keep your schedule so you can get to bed at a decent hour. Set time limits on yourself. You know how much rest your body really needs (not just gets by on). Determine that with God's help, you will get at least six to eight hours of sleep every night. If you wisely plan and manage your time, you can meet your deadlines without sacrificing your sleep. When it is time to sleep, let your mind rest. Do not keep thinking about things that need to be done.

More than your health is at risk. Your life is always an object of study. Many students do not respect teachers they consider to be obese, wimpy, or out of control. Do your daily appearance, actions, reactions, and attitudes reflect no control, self-control, or God-control? Your children (at home and at school) are watching to see if Christ is real in your words and in your life.

Reprinted from Balance, a publication of the School of Education, Bob Jones University. Used with permission of Bob Jones University. Please write BJU Press, for permission to reproduce this article.