Nick StumboExecutive Director driving healing from sexual brokenness

Set Up Conversations With Your Spouse About Your Self Care #puredesirepodcast #podcast

21 Dec 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:59

A short podcast-style YouTube monologue (Dec 21, 2023) in which the speaker (Nick Stumbo) describes personal strategies for fitting self-care into family life without burdening a stay-at-home spouse. Key points: identify times that don't disrupt the household (example: exercising at 5:30 a.m.), ask permission or proactively set up conversations with your spouse to request time for self-care (e.g., scheduling a tennis outing), and use those conversations to gain permission to invest in personal wellbeing.

I know for me, I struggle with the timing of self care because like, you know, my wife, she has like work that she does, but primarily she's a stay at home mom. And so when I get home, the thought of me doing self care is kind of like feel like I'm putting her out. What I found helpful for me is finding times of the day where I'm not putting her out, where that self care can happen. Instead of me taking 30 minutes after I get home from work when she's prepping dinner and all the boys are doing their thing for me to work out, I do it at like 5:30 in the morning. And I know that sounds like an ungodly time of the day. It's not. It's glorious. But at 5:30 no one in my house is awake. And so I'm not sacrificing that time. But I also think asking permission or setting up those conversations. I've had tons of benefit come from those conversations with my wife where it's like, hey, I'm feeling like I really need to do something this week. Or I would like to find a time, you know, this week that I can go play tennis with a friend. And so for me, it's almost like I'm having that conversation that gives me that permission that I can make that investment in myself. That's just what has worked for me. Yeah.