As I continue to train for my first half marathon (in three weeks…yikes!), I’m learning more and more about how important it is to replenish my body after a run. As nurses, we replenish our patients daily whether it’s fluid, electrolytes, blood components. We help achieve homeostasis. Balance. The same is true for everyone in life, especially service people. There’s much research and discussion about nursing burnout and self-care, and I’ve learned that no one advocates for me like me. I don’t work in a clinical setting currently, but I still give my mental maximum daily, and I must replenish every day.

I’m an introvert. Not a stretch considering I write confessions and thoughts that I may never tell you – complete strangers, really – face to face. So it’s no surprise I replenish at my home, surrounded by my family. There are very few places that replenish my soul and mind in the same manner. Every day I go home from work, and I have a Superman sun moment as I feel my children’s smiles, the nearness of my husband, and the toy-filled living room filled with the smell of dinner begin to replenish my strength. It amazes me. Every. Day.

How do you replenish? Have you thought about it lately?