In January I was blessed to celebrate 36 years of life on this earth. In this short amount of time, it’s as if a lightbulb has gone off. Sure, yeah I’m pushing 40 in a few years – no shame here about it. What I mean is the lightbulb has gone off about taking care of myself. No, REALLY take care of myself.
I am so very guilty of rushing when it comes to taking care of myself. I rush to just wash my face and toss some toner and moisturizer on. I’ll haphazardly throw on some lotion getting out the shower. Oh! Haven’t shaved. Let me rush through this shower and do that. Nails? Eh. It can wait. Over the years I told myself I didn’t want to be “that girl”. The one who takes like 2 hours to get dressed just to go to the grocery store. Actually no, wait – I still don’t want to be that girl – but you get it. I didn’t want to be labeled “high maintenance” or “doing the most” so I downplayed what I now know to be a necessary aspect of what I need as a woman.
As a woman, I need to be cared for. I am strong, but I am also delicate and tender and need to approach my well-being in that manner. With the help of my therapist, I decided to make a plan for my self care.
The chart below is the baseline I used to help me gather and brainstorm. As you can see, self care is multi-faceted, but it helped me to truly understand that massages, manis & pedis are going to fix things. Being intentional about my self care means looking at myself as a whole woman and my care in totality and then crafting what that means.
Here are a few things I have created along the way:
-When the kids are with my husband, that time is not to fold clothes or do chores. It’s for me to unplug and do something for me. Watch a movie, listen to some music, read, whatever!
-My phone is in Do NOT Disturb mode every night.
-Working out 3 days a week is a non-negotiable.
-Sunday evening is my ultimate self-care day. No questions asked.
-Slow down. Enjoy your shower, take time to lotion properly, approach your skincare routine with love, read your affirmations, listen to that podcast.
-Eat foods that nourish you. Stop snacking on junk.
-Make it your priority to connect in person with a friend.
What does your self-care look like this year? Ultimately how you take care of yourself is how you will show up in the world.
You guys look so happy!
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