I ran a five-day self-care challenge last year. Here’s what we all learned.
It’s hard.
Why is it so hard to take care of ourselves? We spend minutes, hours, days taking care of our loved ones. My partner loves taking online courses but tends to let them sit in the inbox for months! I suggested, “take a night every week and dedicate it to your courses.” “But, the boys need help with homework, I need to get lunches ready, the dog needs her meds, and what about household chores we need to do?”
We can’t allow ourselves self-care. Ponder this a moment. We can’t or won’t allow ourselves self-care ~ This is sad and we must do better.
During the self-care challenge, we all planned a daily self-care, check-in on Facebook to share our achievements, and celebrate each other.
Fifteen or so friends gave it a go ~ four finished the week. Five days only! One friend said, “Wow, this is really hard.”
Here is my take on it. One thing. Just do one thing for you every day. You can let it grow into more. But for now, try just one thing you can do for yourself. My vice is solitaire. I play every day. Just for me. Just for some solitude and doing something I like.
Then some days, I add another self-care moment such as a quick meditation, a walk around the neighborhood, a massage, or even a draft beer at the local brewpub.
For everyone, self-care is different. What needs to happen is the focus be on the “self” and the mindset is of the action is “care.” It makes no difference what it is. To measure our self-care against what someone else is doing for theirs takes the “self” out of the picture.
Do what works for you. And do something daily. Ten minutes, or thirty, or half a day if you can! Without you getting what you need, everyone else gets a muddled version of care from us.
Do your own self-care, and don’t feel guilty about it. You’re worth it!
Originally published at medium.com