Self care in my opinion is linked closely with self love. When we learn to be able to love ourselves, which can be a long frightening journey, it then becomes possible to recognise that we too deserve to be looked after in whichever way we choose at that time and it’s not just the children, the Husband, the house, your job or your friends , to name a few that deserve your undivided attention.
Self care is different for everyone. It’s not always the same thing for me either. I’m a complex creature, sometimes all I want is to binge my favourite Netflix series whilst systematically demolishing a whole iced birthday cake to myself, wearing a smelly old pair of leggings that haven’t left my body for a week. Other days I might do a fitness video followed by a shower, shave and preening session ending in a face mask, full body moisturisation and fake tan. Okay the latter is a rare occurence and anyone who knows me is probably laughing at the absurdity of it and shouting ‘’Fuck Off you’ve never done that’’ but I’m here to admit I have. If running 10 miles a day and feasting on a bowl of lettuce is your thing then dive in. You might prefer to spend 2 hours in a bubble bath? Or a night on the tiles with your friends and a litre of vodka? Because it’s not always about physical health. It all depends what you need at that given time for your own mental health, sanity even.
Lets all remember it this way …
We are very important people
We are worthy of whatever our little heart’s desire
We deserve to feel good
Feeling that we have so much in our lives to look after and be responsible for is a heavy cross to bear and can inadvertently trick us into assuming we can just keep going and going and going, without a break or a rest or any help but we can’t. In order to do everything in our lives to the best of our ability we need to look after ourselves now and again. So drop that guilt that you’re holding for even considering doing something for yourself and go on that jog, run that bubble bath or tuck into that birthday cake without apology. You deserve it.
This post is part of the #writingchallenge as set by the amazing @mytalesfromthecrib. You can find her on Instagram.
Life by Eliza 