Life is crazy. Today, everyone is held to such high expectations of things they are supposed to do: go to school, get good grades, have a social life, get a reasonable amount of sleep, work while in school, get ready for the next steps, and so on. But all of these things, everyday hassles creates so much stress on the body. This is why self-care is so important.
However, self-care may not be exactly what the everyday person thinks of it. When people think about self-care, they think of mental health. While prioritizing your mental health is part of self-care, it is not the whole picture of what self-care truly is.
Self-care does not have to be healthy for you, or healthy for your wallet, it's simply something you splurge on. Now, this does not mean you splurge on yourself every single day. It's simply one thing you spend a little extra out of your paycheck for.
This could be getting your hair or nails did. It could be anything that takes a regular routine to keep up. This is important to do because it makes you set time aside during your year to think and take care of yourself in a positive life. It's okay to spoil yourself, it's not okay to spoil yourself every single day.
Living in a world where everyday hassles can wreak havoc on your body due to the amount of stress it causes. By simply indulging in one thing every now and again helps not only boost your confidence but also remind yourself that your needs are important too despite the demands of outside factors.
This also helps boost your mood as well. Today, mental health problems like anxiety and depression are skyrocketing. By simply practicing self-care, helps improve your mood in a snap. Have you ever been in a slump where you are just grumpy, and after you took time to relax and recharge, you felt better? That's what self-care leads to, a mood boost!
It is not easy to prioritize yourself; however, you will run yourself to the ground if all you do is put everyone's needs above yours. In order to comply and give it all you got, you're going to have to stop and treat yourself every now and again.
But how do you get there? Well, it starts by simply asking yourself, what do I want? What is one thing you wish you could do for yourself, but you never make the time to actually do it? Start asking yourself these questions and you will eventually find that one thing you need to do to treat yourself.
And in case you are drawing a blank, here are some ideas you can try: taking yourself out to your favorite restaurant once a month, setting up a time to get your nails done regularly (every two weeks, or month), picking a day of the week where you're just going to fill the bathtub with your best essential oils, soaps, and slapping on a face mask and binging Gossip Girl for the seventh time this year. The possibilities are endless, you just have to pick one.
It's okay to come first.
