The other day I was talking to some of my friends and we were having an honest conversation about self-care. Now, I’m an avid believer that self-care is a priority and should be practiced on a weekly (sometimes daily, oops) basis.
Yet, some of my girlfriends were saying things like “I feel guilty when I take that time” or “I don’t even have the time." And I got so angry. Like SO angry.
So, I realized two things:
1) I may be a little too passionate about the subject.
2) Why are people feeling guilty about focusing on themselves for a change?
I think that’s what made me as angry as I was. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with telling yourself: “Ok, today I’ll just focus on me and do what I want to do.”
The issue? So many people think they should prioritize all the other little things going on in their life. And yes, while I agree it’s important to cross off all the “To Dos” on your list- one of those "To Dos" should be "Time for Me."
The interesting thing that I did learn from that conversation I had with my friends was the definition of self-care. I always thought that self-care was something where you were home, focusing on yourself and apart from the world for 0.2 seconds. But that’s not the case for everyone.
For example, one of my girlfriends claimed that the weekly yoga class we go to is her “me” time to unwind. That for me is definitely not a time for that; I see it more so as a time for stretching and exercising my muscles.
But you know what?
If she feels like that’s when she can recharge her batteries and can get re-energized, then… who am I to judge her?
I think it’s vital for people to realize that although there are different kinds of self-care, you still need to take that time out of your schedule to really make time for yourself.
A couple of ideas? Face mask, watching an episode of your favorites series, cooking a new recipe, trying a new class, attempting (if you’re like me) to be artistic, listening to music with your candle burning and whatever else makes you stop and have time to breathe for yourself.
There are endless possibilities. The most important thing is that you’re asking: What do I want to do?
So, lets work on not feeling guilty about taking that time. It’s not something that should be encouraged because honestly the minute you start taking care of yourself- you can take care of others!
