Choose You
Updated on 6/19: Giveaway winnner has been chosen! Congratulations to Lacey D., and thanks to all for reading and participating!
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I’m guilty of it and you probably are too. Most women are, in fact.
What am I talking about? Putting your own health on the back burner to attend to the needs (and, let’s face it, WANTS) of others. There’s laundry to wash, fold, and put away. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners to prepare. Sporting events, rehearsals, classes to shuttle the kids around to. Helping with homework. Picking up dry cleaning. Grocery shopping.
And somehow, that thing you wanted to do – for you – has been put on hold. Diet starts TOMORROW. I’ll go to the gym another day. That check up you’ve been meaning to schedule with your doctor…a year ago…still not on the books.
I am the WORST about putting myself last.
And that needs to stop. Why? Because even if I can’t be everything to everybody, I’m very important to a few – and I need to stay healthy so I can be here for those few!
Last August, our family had a massive wake up call. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with Stage 4 Small Cell Lung Cancer. It was like a punch in the gut.
She spent her entire life doing, being, existing for others. Things like exercising and eating right just didn’t happen, not because she didn’t want to, but because being ‘selfish’ and properly caring for herself would compromise the time she felt she needed to be taking care of other people.
Her coping mechanism, her ‘me time’, was smoking. She smoked probably a pack a day for close to 40 years.
So the diagnosis last summer was not entirely unexpected, but nonetheless, it hit like a ton of bricks. Because, even if you’re logically prepared for something, you are never, ever emotionally prepared for a diagnosis like cancer. And even more than that, you can never prepare yourself for what is going to happen to your loved one, physically, as they fight and in this case, succumb to, cancer.
Believe me, if you’ve never experienced the horrible reality of cancer, you are VERY fortunate, and I hope it never enters your life.
But, statistically speaking, those chances are not good.
Did you know that 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in her lifetime?
I know, grim. But the good news is that about 50% of cancer deaths could be prevented by emphasis on early diagnosis and healthy lifestyle. By taking the time to TAKE CARE. And, by being here, just reading this – well – you’ve taken the first step in choosing yourself.
Recently, The American Cancer Society rolled out a new campaign called ‘Choose You‘. Choose You encourages women to take charge of their health by making a commitment to themselves.
There are five commitments to make to yourself within this amazing movement:
1. Eat Right
2. Get Active
3. Quit Smoking
4. Get Regular Health Checks
5. Protect Your Skin
Pretty basic stuff, but so SO important. Me, I really need to work on protecting my skin. We don’t get a lot of sun around here, but I still need to make sure to slather on the SPF. Especially since I’m so vigilant about putting sunscreen on my son…I need it as well! That is my commitment to myself.
The American Cancer Society was kind enough to send a gift pack my way in conjunction with this movement, and I have to say, it’s pretty sweet. Check it out!
The gift pack includes a super cute t-shirt, full size Neutrogena Sunscreen, two pens, a Choose You lapel pin, an adorable blue flower hair clip, a Choose You reusable water bottle, several Sprite Zero coupons and a Walgreens gift card. So fun.
And you know, I totally have one to give away!
So, how do you enter? There are three ways:
1) Visit the Choose You website and have a look at the commitments. Then, come back here and let us know in the comments what commitment you are making to yourself.
2) Write a blog post about that new commitment with a link to this post, and leave a comment with the link.
3) Tweet about this giveaway and leave the link in the comments.
This giveaway will run through Saturday, June 19 and a winner will be chosen via Random.org.
I urge you to take some time and peruse the Choose You site, and even make a donation to the American Cancer Society if you are so inclined. They are a beautiful organization, very near to my heart – in fact, my mother-in-law benefited from a free wig provided by the ACS as she underwent chemotherapy.
Now, go forth and take time to take care. CHOOSE YOU.
Disclosure: The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans received a Choose You gift pack for purposes of review. No monetary compensation was provided. Of course, as always, the opinions expressed are our own.
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