Valentine’s Day has come and gone. The official Hallmark day of romance and love is often one that is pointed outward. We show our loved ones how much we care by sending cards, giving gifts and flowers. There is nothing wrong with that! But it got me thinking about the ways that I care for myself and how it can help my family. Have you ever considered how you care for yourself benefits your family? It was a paradigm shift for me!
There are TONS of blog posts about self-care out there. Often the tone is WE(as women) deserve it and definately don't get it enough.
That can feel very “me me me” and I'm turned off by that tone pretty quick.
Don't get me wrong, I believe that women DO deserve to be cared for. In fact, we need it as much or more as the rest of our family. We can't have a resentful attitude though because that doesn't make us mentally strong or promote healthy relationships.
So let's cover the "self-care" bases and have a positive impact on our families by examining HOW we can give ourselves a little love every day and not get worn down, burnt out and exhausted.
Women it MATTERS how we care for ourselves!
When momma is happy and healthy that has a huge impact on rest of the family. Often what I am doing rubs off on my family members. If I am nourished, healthy and calm that means I can concentrate on what makes the family healthier and happier. Example: when I eat healthy often the rest of the family does as well or if can I manage my stress levels right then I don't take things out on my kids or husband.
As mom’s we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of our own to-do-list. If you are saying in your head that there is “NO way can I carve out more time for me.”
I get it. REALLY.
As a mom of 2 teens and 2 twenty-somethings, my days aren’t spent chasing toddlers and or rocking babies. But I do a TON of emotional counseling and encouraging and I think that is more exhausting.
It’s hard to fill up other people’s tanks when ours is empty so we need to make sure that we carve out the time to care for our health. This means looking at several areas of our lives!
Examining our current habits helps us to plan for the future
You might wonder why I’m doing this self-evaluation.
Bluntly because we won't be here forever.
Each day is a precious gift. Our local community had this brought close to home last week. A teacher (who was just a few years older than me) died from a heart attack. It was a true wake-up call for many. So I told myself that I would take a serious look at the various areas of my health. I encourage you to do the same.
Above are graphics of the four main areas of health that I want to examine in my life but I might find a few more along the way!
- Physical Health
- Balancing Responsibilities aka STRESS
- Emotional Health
- Spiritual Health
I will be sharing what I do now and what my goals are for the future will be. This is a dialog with you and I would LOVE to know what you do to take care of yourself.
Do you think self-care is a selfish activity or a necessary one? Please comment on this post or hop over to FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter and let me know what you think!
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