Day 8: Self-Care Ssssss-anyday!

 Some days ya gotta just do the things that will make you feel good! Whether good in the moment or after the fact. That's what I did, as seen documented below.

Twas the middle of the day on a weekend not long ago. I thought to myself: 

'Boy are my feet looking ROUGH!!' (quite literally).
'Maybe I'll give 'em a nice soak and file 'em down . . . and maybe I'll even paint my toes . . . oh, and I could to a face mask, too!'

My excitement began to grow. 

At first it was fueled by the after-result I could expect, re-energized and smooth feet. But as the process began, a different type of pleasure began to take hold. Starting with putting on the face mask.

 I don't know about you, but I always find sheet masks so soul-tickling. Who wouldn't want to see what they look like with a white mustache and beard and gray eyebrows?! I couldn't help but giggle.

Next up, my tootsies. The warmth of the water felt so nice as I placed my feet in, swishing them around. I'm glad they got to hang out in their bath for a while, because I needed that time to muster up the mental strength for what was about to come next. Rubbing them down with my pumice stone.  

I didn't want to do it. It's a lot of extra effort (to me) and it's not super enjoyable. And yet - once I got started I gained a great sense of satisfaction and happiness for doing something nice and nurturing for myself.

I don't know about you, but I find I am way less gentle, compassionate, and caring towards myself than I am towards others. 

Why???

It seems odd when I really think about it. I have this ONE body to last me my entire life!* I can't trade it in for a new model like a car. I can't build on an extension like with a house. I just have this vessel - and boy is it important!

Caring for ourselves doesn't just mean taking care of the physical body (though we should all probably give our feet, in particular, a lot more love than we currently do). It also means taking care of our emotional self, mental self, and spiritual self (whatever that means to you). All of these pieces are connected and if one area is struggling it will eventually show up in all of the others.

I'm going to make a conscious effort to be more caring towards myself on a regular basis, and I hope you will join me. 

Maybe we start small and tell ourselves one thing we appreciate about ourselves as we look at our flawless bedhead in the mirror each morning.

Or perhaps we pause for a deep breath and give ourselves a quick - or long - tight hug each afternoon.

Who knows, maybe we even try out watching, listening, or reading something each day or week that makes us feel good and uplifted?!

Self-care is fluid, there's no one way to do it - or a right way to do it. The main thing is it feels good to you in your mind, body, and soul. If you're alive right now, you deserve to care for yourself. What's stopping you?

*Concept credit to the incredible Elsa Fouquette, my good friend and future old lady motivational speaker partner