Self Care is Bulls**t!

Self care is bulls**t

Okay, maybe that’s a little aggressive. It’s not B.S, but I do think society has blown it out of proportion.

Self care is NOT sleeping in because you had a long day yesterday.
Self care is NOT treating yourself to an ice cream cone because you already ate a pizza so why stick to a diet now.
Self care is NOT skipping work because you just don’t feel like going.
Self care is NOT saying “F**K it” to your to-do list because a new season of a Netflix show came out.
Self care is NOT sitting on your butt drinking tea by a fire or at happy hours with friends or in the fifth bubble bath this week.

Self care IS making your bed everyday so you can get a good night sleep.
Self care IS going for that run that you’re dreading.
Self care IS waking up early to get a head start on the project for work.
Self care IS balancing your checkbook, managing your money, paying your bills.
Self care IS calling your parents, your friends, your grandma.
Self care IS standing up for what you believe in and more importantly standing up for yourself.

Self care is hard work. It’s making sure you did EVERYTHING in your power so that when you lay your head down to go to sleep that night you can say to yourself, “I am one step closer to my dreams.”

Self care is making your dreams realities, because what kind of life is it if your dreams stay in your head?
Self care is sacrificing sleep dreams and daydreams for real ones.

Self care is never settling for average, because you my friend are anything BUT average. You deserve the world.
Self care is realizing no one is going to hand that big wide world to you, you have to go out and get it. You can do and be ANYTHING you set your mind to, but you have to believe and you have to be willing to work.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I don’t expect you to be a robot who never sleeps and only thinks about work and the gym. But ask yourself these questions…
Am I where I want to be in life?
Are my dreams on the forefront of my mind all day everyday and am I working towards them with each thing I do?
What do I do when things get bad?

Burnout is real, I know this. In fact I struggle to write this blog post because I still am trying to find what balance is.
Stress is real.
Anxiety attacks are real.
Sickness is real.
Self care is not allowing yourself to get to these lows, but not being complacent either.
Self care is putting your best foot forward EVERYDAY and sometimes that may be uncomfortable.
Running isn’t easy, meal prepping can be tough after a long day at work, looking at your credit score really isn’t that fun...but, there is undervalued benefit to putting yourself in uncomfortable situations.

Self care is training yourself to to follow through with your ambitions REGARDLESS of hurdles, because life will not always be comfortable. What are you going to do when things get bad? When you lose a client at work? Your boyfriend breaks up with you?
Stay in bed?
Eat your feelings?

Hell no.

So what does self care look like fo me?
Going to bed early and waking up at 5am to go to the gym, run, enjoy a cup of coffee, eat a good breakfast, and putting my best foot forward each day. Opportunities exist wherever you bring them to life, so while the world sleeps I wake up. I don’t want to be associated with hoping, wishing, or crossed fingers. The beauty of life is it provides all the pieces to your puzzle...if you’re willing to put it together.
Self care for me is brushing my teeth, washing my face, moisturizing with a great moisturizer, putting my essential oil diffuser on and reading a book every night before bed.
Self care for me is eating fruits and vegetables.
Self care for me is studying, pursuing further certifications, picking up extra shifts at work, because while they may add a little discomfort to my day these things are going to get me to where I want to be in life financially, personally, and professionally.
Self care is planning fun trips, events, days ahead of time, not throwing away a day on a whim because that just adds more things to my list of things to do for the next day.
Self care is running even when its cold, raining, or brutally hot, because I set a goal for myself and I won’t get there if I don’t. And reaching that goal is going to feel a whole lot better than that time I spent in bed.

Self care is working towards where I want to be in five days, five weeks, five months and five years from now.
Self care is pursuing my dreams because I owe myself that.
Self care is falling flat on my face and failing but getting right back up stronger than before.
Self care is realizing failure exists, hardships exist, discomfort exists but not falling into the temptation to retreat back to bed and give up.

Self care is fighting for the life you want. If you can lay your head down each night and say you did that, then I’d say you’re doing just fine.

What does self care look like for you?

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