Taking care of me
I had so much planned to do on my off day this week. I wanted to take a different angle this week on the blog and do something different. My off day would be the only day to get everything completed. So my heart was set on getting it done this week. I fought with myself for about an hour on deciding to care for myself instead. So often I see people saying that to be successful you have to go all in. Everyone is team no sleep. So that's what I've been doing also. Going all in. If successful people don't sleep, I won't either. Early mornings, late nights. What does it actually mean to go all in though? Well for me I thought it meant DO IT ALL and neglect myself. "You have no time to be playing around and you can sleep when you are dead," is what I tell myself. My days have become work, family, and pursue dreams. Not necessarily in that order but you get it. I didn't realize that I also needed breaks. More importantly rest. I can't give my all to anything if I dont first take care of me.
I have been seeing a great deal of post and articles on self care. I thought my occasional baths, where I soak in the tub and release all emotions was my self care regimen. I didn't know that self care was much more than that. I believed my occasional runaway moments, where I runaway, usually to the bathroom for a minute to breathe counted as self care. Today I realized that what I believed to be self care, was nowhere near it. Google defined self care as the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress. Lately I have been working on so much with no room for self care. Cues Soulja boy meme “ Self Carrrreeee.” I am too busy and too exhausted to be taking an active role in my well being. And it seems that I am pouring from an empty cup. Only now am I realizing that what I have been doing is detrimental to myself. I have to take care of me first before anything else.
It's ironic that I am now figuring this out because I have been following Chaila of baeolgy’s self series before anyone else on YouTube. In this series she teaches that you have to put yourself first and ways to do so. Check it out it's really dope. I know being a mother, wife, employee and writer that this is hard, but today I really felt it. I had been operating on the celebrities motto, team no sleep. I've been playing myself. Im learning that rest is super important. Obviously I missed the memo. I haven't been getting enough of it at all. So guess what I did on this week's off day? Slept, slept half the day with no regrets. Usually I'm like I have to do this and do that but today, today I slept and it felt amazing. Everything and everyone around me has been screaming self care. And now I am finally following suit. I come first and I am no longer pouring from an empty cup.. Nope I'm not doing it. I can only do what I can and quality is valued more than quantity. So I can't do it all and I won't. Me before anyone else!! You know how when you're on a flight they tell you if anything happens put on your oxygen mask first before you try to help someone else put theirs on. That's how I'm looking at life now. My oxygen first before I can give breath to anyone or anything else. Me before anyone else!
How do you take care of yourself? Is self care important to you?
