Who's taking care of you?

6^th May 2013

You’re past mistakes are meant to guide you not define you!

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY, that’s the one thing I notice about most of the women I meet, you have so many responsibilities, as a woman you are many things to many people – mother, daughter, sister, wife, carer, cleaner, lover, teacher – need I go on!  However the most important thing you should practise doing is being you for you, it’s much too easy to become consumed by taking care of everyone else that you forget that you also matter, well believe and trust me – YOU DO!

Are you guilty of spending all your time and energy on the needs of others at the expense of your own?  Are you thinking whether this is true or not, if you aren’t sure ask yourself the following questions;

What’s your ‘self-care’ routine?  How do you take care of you?  How often do you put yourself at the top of the list?  What do you do to ensure you stay sane?

How about starting today - you start making time for you, time to do things that will help you take care of yourself, it might start with taking five minutes this morning to be quiet in your own company before the madness of the day starts.  

Finding time for yourself to do things that make you feel good is all part of self-care, for example I walk twice a day to give me some quiet time, and it’s also my exercise which makes me feel better.  I love taking a long bath with a good book and just zoning out from the world.  You might want to make time to get active, or you may want to find ways to indulge yourself or time to relax, if you’re not sure, identify what things you would like to do for yourself. Some of them may be special treats that you do just once a month and others could be things you can do most days.  

Then of course you’ll need to make the time to do them!  Taking care of yourself shouldn’t add stress to your life, so find time to actually enjoy doing something nice for yourself however small; it may just be reading a magazine for ten minutes whilst enjoying a cuppa.  Maybe the housework can wait till tomorrow so you can enjoy the sunshine today.  If you have a diary pencil in ‘ME’ times throughout the month.

Why is any of this important, because treating yourself kindly will have a positive ripple effect that will impact every other area of your life.  By taking care of yourself you then have the energy to take care of others, it’s not selfish to put yourself first, it’s important.  If you’ve ever flown with children, you will have been told by flight attendants that you should put the oxygen mask on yourself FIRST in the event of an emergency.  By doing this you can then take care of your child.  The same goes for taking care of yourself, when you’ve had time for you, to chill out, relax, to reflect and to feel a sense of calm and control; you’re more likely to feel better about yourself and your life.  A relaxed person has more patience with their children, more love to give their partners and more time for their friends.  Of course taking care of yourself won’t solve everything but it will make you feel more capable of handling things. 

Everyone deserves to take care of themselves, so today think about what you like to do for fun, there is no ‘perfect’ way to take care of yourself, it’s very personal to you, so have a think about what would work for you. 

I think my self care today is going to involve a walk somewhere that doesn’t start from my front door, I’m also thinking music playing in the car and a sing song sounds good too ;) I’ve already got an easy meal planned because I don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen, it’s too nice out there for that.

Have a great day, EatGorgeous & BeYouTiful. xx