"Change your Socks" is one of our cultural values/principles and it means making sure to take care of yourself. This is also a nod to military culture; proper foot care is essential to minimize risk of discomfort, infection, or worse.
As humanitarians, providing services to disaster affected communities, sometimes we lose sight of our own needs. Left neglected, this can lead to extreme stress, fatigue, poor mood, and ultimately feeling overwhelmed or burned out. Maintaining your resilience and recognizing when you need to take a break to fill your own cup is essential to effectively serve others.
Changing your socks will look different from person to person. For some, that may mean making time to read a good book at the end of a long day, for others it may mean maintaining a solid workout schedule or talking with a friend regularly. For a Volunteer Leader, this could be stepping back from your role due to changing personal priorities and bandwidth. It could also simply be asking for support from the leaders around you. We can't do all the things all the time - we all need to recharge.
Ultimately, we want to make sure you're able to "Step Into the Arena" as your best self and keep coming back!
If you are going on vacation or chose to take a break from volunteering for an extended period, you don't need to do anything to your Roll Call account. Please just let your local leadership know and we'll be there with open arms when you return!
If you need any support in finding healthy ways to change your socks, tips on coping skills, or maybe need more structured support like finding professional help, please reach out to our Well-Being leadership team. You can find their contact information, as well as crisis support information in our Trusted Resources section of Roll Call.
Stay healthy and take care of yourself so you can continue to GSD with us!