As the holiday season rolls around, we all seem to want be a little bit nicer to our fellow humans. Volunteering, sparing some extra change, donation — for some reason, the holiday spirit seems to kick our butts into gear and makes us want to give back to our communities and do more good. And yet, in the midst of all this charity, we tend to leave a certain group of people behind in the dust of all this compassion: ourselves.
If you're going to be giving back, why not give back to yourself, too?
Often, we focus so much on making others happy that we forget to make ourselves happy in the process. It is a beautiful thing to care about and love others, especially when doing so for strangers or those in need, but it is equally as beautiful and just as important that we extend that love to ourselves, too. It is during the holiday season that many people unfortunately get caught up in this. Between gift-shopping and donating and all the chaos that comes along with the end of the year, it becomes so easy to lose yourself in translation. We forget that it can be a lot easier to make others happy if we are first happy with ourselves.
That doesn't go to say that you have to be the epitome of body positivity and self-adoration to care properly for others.
Sometimes, it's as simple as just taking that desperately needed moment of alone time, or reminding yourself that it's okay that you just ate six Christmas cookies.
Stop beating yourself up for how much you ate for Thanksgiving, and start realizing that you're not perfect and you absolutely don't need to be.
You don't have to buy the perfect gift for everyone or do the most that you can. The people who really, truly love you will understand.
If you try too hard to please everyone, you'll end up forgetting yourself in the process.
When it all boils down, Christmas and the holiday season are about love. And though we often think of this in terms of the love we can give others, giving ourselves love is worthy of attention, too. Trust me, once you start working on yourself and your own needs, the things that you can do for others will feel that much easier and be that much more rewarding.