Happy Thursday everyone!
It's been awhile, sadly I've been a front row passenger on the struggle bus.
I've missed a couple of months due to illness and then I broke my leg (both bones), shattered my ankle, and tore a ligament. I guess tying sled to Milo and sitting Charlie on it and telling him to haul butt wasn't one of the smartest things I've done....
But it was fun while it lasted...
Isn't he just the coolest... haha
Anyway on to this month's topic - Magical Love. With Monday being Valentines and the fact I write romance, I really felt I needed to write about love...
I'm sure we have all heard the saying Love Is All You (I) need...and while I would add that clean water, shelter, and doughnuts are important, there is no doubt that love is some powerful magic. It can be truly live changing.
I'm not talking about romantic love but self-love. Before we can really love another person we need to love ourselves - unconditionally. The latest buzz is all about 'self-care' and 'self-love' but it's still something some of still struggle with.
I was recently with a group of friends and we were talking about how difficult we find it to develop a self-care/self-love routine. I thought I'd share some of the reasons and things we came up to over come them (this is with their permission. I'd never share something personal shared with me without asking).
I don't have time to set-up a self-care/self-love routine. This is was a common factor among us. One that most people relate to on some level. The first thing to banish is that your self-care/self-love routine has to be multi-step involving all the things. I mean heck yeah, I would love to have a hot tub with bubbles surrounded by candles with a plate of doughnuts but in reality I don't even get to take a shower without Charlie pounding on the door. So to try to establish this would be horrible... Milo would knock the candles over trying to get into the hot tub. Charlie would be making Santa beards with the bubbles. And they would eat all my doughnuts. NO self-care there.
So I set aside 10 minutes a day (the best time for me is 6:30 pm...dinner and the dishes are done, homework is done, and Charlie has his 30 minutes of screen time.) The key to this 10 minutes is to SHOW UP FOR MYSELF. I have found the best way to do this is by having a 10 minute activity in mind. On Monday's I do a face mask. On Tuesday's I paint my nails. Etc. I have found if I don't have a plan, I spend my time picking up and trying to decide what I'm going to spend my 10 minutes on... which ends up nothing.
Now 10 minutes isn't long and I do try to schedule more time through the week and sometimes I get and sometimes I don't. But either way, I have shown up and given myself 1 hour and 10 minutes of self-love. And that might not sound like a lot but it was more than I had before I started this routine.
If you are someone who has trouble finding time for self-care/self-love, I'd like to encourage you to start small and promise yourself that you will show-up everyday for those few minutes.
Because you deserve them!!!!!
I would love to hear how you schedule self-care/self-love time.
2 comments:
Lyncee, I love this post! So many truths in it including Charlie making Santa beard bubbles, Milo knocking over the candles and both of them eating all the donuts in your fantasy self-care scenario. That was my life not that many years ago.
I give myself "good job", "that's great" "look at what you did" mental or sometimes voiced accolades when I even simple things. When my world had turned fairly dark and getting out of bed much less dressed and feeding myself seemed monumental tasks, I'd congratulate myself on what I'd done. So I totally agree with you that it doesn't have to be a special fantasy of self-care/self-love, if we are kind and compassionate in our self-talk that is a good start.
Lyncee - first of all, so sorry about your sledding accident, but I am glad it was fun while it lasted. OUCH.
You put this perfectly. Now that I have kids out of the house, I do have much more time for self-care. But I don't consciously think about it. You are right. Time to do that - and celebrate each moment. Great post! And hide those donuts :-)
Post a Comment