What if taking care of yourself, without the guilt, was the most important thing?
Do you beat yourself up when there isn’t enough time to take care of e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g on your plate when what you really want to do is just take a nap, watch mindless TV, go have lunch with a friend, or find a yoga class? Do you feel guilty for putting your needs first? I have to admit, that ugly monster of guilt sometimes comes into my view too. Just yesterday I took the afternoon off and had some HT Therapy (hammock time in my backyard) and am going to spend this entire weekend at a workshop that I’ve been eagerly awaiting. I could easily have taken this kid-free weekend and set some serious time at chipping away at my favorite work related projects, since my son is with his dad on adventure and I have no one to make breakfast for. But I can already feel that my body + soul are thanking me for taking this time off to rejuvenate, connect with like-minded people, and not work in front of my computer for 6-8 hours a day. I’m taking this time because my massage therapist and acupuncturist have both told me that I need to take it easy or I’m going to burn-out Whoa! I did not want to hear that but it’s true. It’s usually when I have my son to take care of, lots of business projects that I’m juggling, dishes and laundry to finish, and several clients and meetings scheduled that I feel the worst about taking time for myself. It used to be a lot harder to take care of myself when that amount of “to-dos” were on my list. Not anymore. Now I see that my self-care is the oil in the engine that keeps my busy life on track and makes the forward momentum possible.And I see that the guilt is actually working against my best intentions for true health and vitality. What are your thoughts about taking care of yourself? What’s your guilty self-care story? How can you reframe the way you look at down time, exercise and rejuvenation?
Leave a comment here on my blog about what’s in the way of taking care of yourself – I would love to know so that I can offer some great suggestions so you can get back to taking care of yourself without the guilt.