In today's society self-care and having 'me time' has been blown up and glorified. Which don't get me wrong taking care of yourself is a really good thing. Having time to yourself is a good thing. Self-care however, should be more than the stereotypical bubble baths, face masks, and Netflix though. Self-care is what makes you feel good yes, but it needs to be more than physical things that makes you feel good. You need to work on yourself from the inside as well. If your heart is hurting no amount of bubble baths will fix it.
Self-care, is essentially taking care of yourself. By all means take care of yourself, but take care of your heart too. When your heart is hurting, self-care could mean talking to somebody about what's going on. Tell somebody why you're hurt, why you're stressed, why you're angry. Having someone there to listen to you and give advice; that does more than what the physical things can do. Talking to someone about what is going on is all you need to lift the weight off your shoulders sometimes.
Here comes the hard part of self-care, sometimes self-care means letting go of the problem. This means if it's a relationship, friendship, or even just an activity/hobby, you need to let it go. Sometimes, the best thing we can do for ourselves is let go of what is hurting us. Even if it means cutting someone out of your life. It is so difficult at first but I promise you, once you break free from that thing or person, you will feel so much better when it is all said and done. Most of the time, toxicity in your life is the root of the pain you're feeling. The best thing and the hardest thing you can do for yourself is to cut whatever it is out. Loving yourself is the most important thing you need to work on. Loving yourself is the best thing you can do to take care of yourself. That is what everyone needs to work on the most.
This is the side of self-care that no one really pays attention to. This is the hard side, the not-so Instagram or Snapchat worthy side of self-care. As non-glamorous as it is, it will help more than you know. If all you need is to relax to take care of yourself, then by all means, take a bubble bath, watch Netflix, do a face mask! However, if it's your heart that you need to take care of, you might need to talk to someone, make some hard choices, or do both. That might be the self-care you need.
