How do you take care of yourself? Is this a mystery, an impossibility or something that doesn’t even blip on your radar?
Our lives so frequently revolve around taking care of others or their relation to us. We live with an outward focus, diving deep into other people’s worlds. ‘What does my spouse need from me?’ ‘What will make my kids happy?’ ‘What will make my boss respect and appreciate me?’ We hardly take the time to ask ‘What is it that I require of me?’ ‘What are my desires here?’ The focus of our attention and efforts go out, they rarely turn in.
What if there were a far more pleasurable possibility for living? And what if it was easier than you think?
Taking care of yourself in each moment is easy if you overcome the lie that you aren’t worth it or in need of anyone. If you were to see the value of you, the independent brilliance of you and acknowledged the treasure you are would you be worthy of self-care? If you took time to polish that treasure each day what would be different in your life?
Now I can hear some of you saying ‘Yes, I see I’m wonderful and would love to spend more time on myself but really I have bills to pay, kids to feed, relationships to upkeep. There is not time in the day for all of this.’ But what occurs with this point of view? Down you go on your to-gift-to-list, placing yourself as a secondary and subservient energy in your own life.
There are many ways out of this loop but I invite you to start by asking a simple question as often as you can: “If I was taking care of me here what would I choose?” Ask this before and during your daily activities and follow what awareness comes up.
You may find yourself making wildly different choices – changing projects you have been working on, starting a project that has been on the back burner, choosing different dynamics in your relationships. You may also find yourself making small changes – eating lunch by yourself for some downtime, taking a different route to work to break up the monotony, being social with a new group that lights up new energies for you. You may also find yourself doing the exact same thing but with a more relaxed pace, more lightness and a sense of possibility.
You are worth taking care of. There is a different way of living. Play with it and see!