Self-Care, not Self-ish
Self-Care: Why It is Imporant And How It Isn’t Selfish
You’ve probably heard the saying, “you can’t pour from an empty cup” and thought sure that makes sense but never thought about how it applies to your daily life. This saying is a reminder that we can’t give to someone else what we don’t possess ourselves. But what is self-care? It is not just spa days and treating yourself to something nice (even though these are self-care activities). Self-care is the regular practice of prioritizing your own well-being–physically, emotionally, and psychologically–in order to show up as the best and most balanced version of you. Not just for yourself, but for your loved ones and others around you. Being in touch with your own needs and feelings allows you to feel and show deeper empathy and love toward others. This is especially important for caregivers or those in caretaking professions, who are often the most likely to neglect their own needs. Self-care is foundational to healing, discovering your purpose, fulfilling your potential, and experiencing true joy.
The difference between selfishness and self-care really lies in the intention. Many people carry the belief that self-care is selfish. Selfishness is doing things because you only care about yourself and how things affect you. Self-care is caring for yourself the way you would care for someone you love, in order to have the bandwidth to be fully present and show up as your best self for others. By caring for yourself, you’ll find you have more to give others, not less. Taking care of yourself is not a bad thing. Our society places value on our productivity more than the intangible things that bring us peace, fulfillment, and sometimes even just meet our most basic needs, and this perpetuates the guilt many of us feel when doing things that don’t feel “productive.” The more you practice your own self-care, the more capacity you have for others which in turn also leads to increased productivity. Prioritizing yourself is like building a muscle, it takes time to see the full results, but with a consistent self-care practice you will notice increasing changes occurring in your life over time.
Self-care allows you to discover who you really are. As we grow up and become adults, we are conditioned to believe that play is for children, rest is a waste of time, and that doing things for joy’s sake is childish. Opening up to self-care, what it is, and the importance of it, will allow you to reconnect with yourself by caring for your inner child.
Follow along to learn more about self-care practices and the 30-day self-care challenge.
