Barriers to Self-Care and Renewal - Page 2 of 3

* Pressures from Students *

Many students bring to school attitudes and behaviors resulting from dysfunctional families, confusing societal expectations, and personal misperceptions. They may feel handicapped by many factors in their lives:

• their culture,
• race,
• gender,
• physical limitations,
• learning disabilities,
• emotional instability,
• poverty,
• addictions, and
• ingrained attitudes and beliefs about the world around them.

We may all be concerned and caring educators. But, after repeatedly unsuccessful attempts to improve the lives of students, we may find ourselves feeling drained, cynical, discouraged, and even embittered. Students will pick up on these feelings and may feel that we no longer care.

* Pressures from Home and Family Life *

During our lifetime, we face many personal pressures that directly and indirectly impact our professional involvements. Family members, friends, significant others, spouses, babies, young children, teenagers, young adults and aging parents all put unique demands on our emotions, our coping skills, and our human relationship skills.

The temptation is to give our time, energy and material resources to those people whose needs seem greater than our own. Self-neglect at home carries over into resentful attitudes and diminished performance at work. We forget that we can only give what we have. We may find it hard to truly believe that self-care is imperative.

We need to be able to replenish ourselves so that we have to share.