I haven't been all that honest with myself lately. Sure that may seem a bit silly to say; but how often do we feel the weight of something on our hearts that we can't put our finger on and then all of a sudden it hits us like a ton of bricks? Something in our lives becomes off balance and we were either not listening to ourselves, the busy-ness caught up, we were faking it, or just didn't care enough to notice. Being present in our own minds is a hard task to do, and adding work, school, husband and a couple of kids and you will find it almost impossible. But when did taking care of others take precedence over taking care of ourselves? At what point did we say, no to us and yes to everyone else?
The other day I was reading up on a few of my favorite blogs when I came across an interesting post by Hayley from the The Tiny Twig Blog. The post title really caught my eye: "Mother yourself." My immediate reaction was complete intrigue, and as I began to read I was pleasantly surprised as to this new found terms' definition.
Mothering yourself is 'self-care.' Taking care of yourself the way a Mother has taken care of you, and if you are a Mother, the way that you would care for one of your own. This fresh approach was heart-warming because I have been feeling lost in this department. Motherhood is so vast-with its incredible highs of warmth and love, and deep lows when your kiddos are sick, or date nights(what date nights?). Being a mother encapsulates a wide wide range of responsibilities-which always take on new emotions as well.
This idea of self-care has been near and dear to my heart, but putting it into practice has been few and far between.
I have not been caring for myself the way that a Mother would care for me.
Identifying that you have not been taking care of yourself is the first step. If you know that you are not caring for yourself, you are sacrificing too much, you are emotionally drained by caring for another human, you are neck deep in paperwork, dissertations, or relational friction-this post is for you.
It is the example I am sure you have heard if you have ever been on an ariplane: Secure your own oxygen to make sure air is flowing before helping those around you. If you are out of oxygen , it will be IMPOSSIBLE to care for others.
I want to lay out 5 ways that you can Care for yourself:
1. Buy candles and scented hand soaps. If you are like me, those things make you happy, awaken your senses and make you stop to be in the moment. Little items like this make all the difference during the mundane tasks such as cleaning and folding laundry.
2. Get Away. Ladies, get that alone time. Especially if you are an introvert, go and recharge. When we push and push so hard and have so much going on, stopping and pausing for a few minutes will help shift your perspective. It will help you gain another viewpoint from life and enlarge your horizon.
3. Get yourself a friggin' Latte or tea. Seriously go. Just get it decaf if you have anxiety. ;) Sometimes a little cup of joe can really just scream, 'hey, its going to be okay.' There is something about that frothy hot goodness that puts your worries at ease.
4. Get Some friends to do life with. This one has been pretty up and down since college. I had the most amazing support group/life group during college and I wished I could have made all of them move here with me, but unfortunately that did not happen. Friends are incredible and help engage you in community. Without community, we do not thrive.
5. Schedule day around prayer. I want to do this one day and see how it goes. I really want to schedule my day around praying to the Lord and really make time set apart for that. I feel like caring for ourselves is starting with commitment to the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment