If you and/or your family are like any other family during this time, life can be a bit of a mixed bag right now.  It’s nice to be home.  The joy of being home, extra time to spend with family, pets, and ourselves, is also tempered with the challenges that come along with this “new normal” including helping to keep kids on target/schedule with school, finding fun stuff for them to do inside/outside, making/cooking every meal at home, and staying positive.

With all that emotional output needed to cater to your family, it’s normal to feel a bit drained – even before starting your day! The Battery Exercise is an exercise used within the Resilient Warrior and Resilient Family Program at Home Base that enables you to identify experiences that help recharge your inner self throughout the day.

Imagine your inner resilience as a rechargeable battery. Similar to a battery, some things make you feel recharged and other things make you feel drained. Often, we notice that the things that drain the battery are things we don’t have control over, whereas the things that recharge our battery we actually do have more control over.  Here’s a list of some things that might drain/recharge your battery.

Withdrawals (Drain Battery)

Spending your entire day in Zoom meetings

Struggling to fit your tasks in one day

Not getting enough sleep

Getting in an argument with a family member

Unable to leave the house

Worried about weight

Ate lunch too quickly

Did not have time to exercise

Went to bed late

Deposits (Charges Battery)

Getting thanked for helping a co-worker

Started reading a new book

Went to bed early

Played a game with your kids

Planted a garden

Exercised

Had a picnic at the park with your family

Took a walk in the morning

Took a relaxing bath before bed and went to bed at a reasonable time

Now that you have a better understanding of what drains and recharges your battery, take a few minutes to consider what is draining for you, and what recharges your battery?  Remember, things that recharge one person’s battery might be draining for someone else. Now, choose 3-5 healthy things that charge your battery and try to incorporate them into your day over the next week. See how you feel! Taking care of yourself is an important part of being resilient, especially in times of stress, so take the time to recharge.

 

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About the Author: Stacie comes to Home Base with 10 years of non-profit experience working with service members, veterans and their families. Most recently, she was the program manager for a military/veteran family support program at a large social service agency. A veteran herself, Stacie served 14 years in the Air Force on active duty as an intelligence officer supporting flying and space operations as well as an ROTC instructor at the University of S. Florida before transferring to the Air Force Reserves where she served the last 9 years of her career at USCYBERCOM before retiring in 2016. Stacie is married to her husband, also an Air Force veteran, and together they have two amazing children and one silly dog who keep them both busy and focused on the importance of living each day to the fullest!