Self care is something that I am learning how to truly do for myself. I find myself often feeling guilty for wanting to take time off or just saying no to certain responsibilities when I feel burned out because of that fact that there's someone depending on me or I don't want to make things harder for others. Yet there's this constant feeling of not being satisfied or missing out on the freedom and joy of life as well. I'm a pretty outgoing and adventurous person. I love to travel and to experience new things. I love learning as well. I would say that I'm a pretty responsible person too, but sometimes I feel like I can be too responsible. Is that even a thing? When I say too responsible I mean from the aspect that I feel like what I would spend for pleasure and enjoyment can always go to a need. What I'm learning is that pleasure is a need as well. Self care and feeling good about yourself and your life is a must.
Some people have this mindset that you work to live and that's something that I can't understand or grasp. See life can't just be about putting 30 years into a job/career and getting a pension to enjoy life in your senior citizen years. Life should be enjoyed in every season and every decade that you live to see. At 25 I know I have my whole life in front of me but I don't want to look up and meet 30 or even 40 and have missed out on so much because I'm only focused on the responsibilities of life. For working so hard you should be able to enjoy life in some form or fashion. You should be able to do something nice for yourself which doesn't always have to cost money. I'm thankful that at my age I'm learning the importance of treating myself and taking care of myself in every aspect. I'm thankful for the mindset that I have and for the clarity of what self care means for me. Self care may not look the same for everyone, however no matter what form of self care you do make sure you do it well because it's good for your health as well. Take care of your mental health, physical health and spiritual health. Learn when to say no, or when to just take time for yourself.
My prayer today is that we stop feeling guilty for wanting to enjoy life and treating ourselves. I pray that we practice self care more in this year than we ever have before and I pray that in doing so we will be better and feel better as well.
With love,
-Yours Truly, Eb