My house is in a “topsy turvy” state right now. Believe it or not, besides the usual busy holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, back to school time is almost as chaotic in my household. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying back to school is a holiday, although some parents may view it as such and quite honestly as a mother of a busy 15 year old boy, I’m looking forward to a little “down time.”
With school registration, back to school shopping, finding just the right backpack, ensuring we have a good supply of pens, pencils, paper, binders, etc, and of course the necessary back to school hair cut I have to say I’m a little worn out at the moment.
It’s time like these when it’s important to remember to slow down, take some deep breaths and practice self care. What is Self Care? Well, Self Care is about putting ourselves first. I know, I know a difficult thing to comprehend and some may even consider a selfish act.
But believe it or not, it’s the total opposite. By practicing Self Care, you will become more present and attentive to the individuals in your life be that personal or professional. Self Care is all about taking extremely good care of ourselves so that we have the reserves in place to take care of others.
Now really, we aren’t much good to others if we are worn out, stressed and not focused. How can we possibly support our clients with top-notch services if we do not have the physical or mental power to concentrate on the task at hand?
Self Care is about doing what you need and want to in order to be happy and healthy. It challenges us to make an investment in ourselves and being responsible in taking really good care of ourselves.
To really understand what self care is about you need to practice it. I encourage you to start today!
Make a list of all the items you feel will support you in your self care process. Some items may be small items that require little time or monetary investment such as, taking an hour to journal or taking your dog for a walk. While other items may be larger and more involved such as a trip to the day spa, or a weekend away with your spouse.
After you have made this list write each item on a piece of paper and place in a jar. Each day pull out a piece of paper from the jar and commit to making it happen. Not only will you be investing in yourself, you’ll have loads of fun doing it to!
So, give yourself permission to put YOU first. Make the investment in YOU and trust me those around you will thank you for it!
