Self-care IS a catalyst for a better community.
Yes, it is. And I really mean it.
We NEED to take care of ourselves. We NEED to focus on our own self-care. So we can have the energy to take care of each other.
But, we don’t. I hear it over and over again, day after day. All of the issues we have with taking care of ourselves
“I really don’t like cooking for myself, but I LOVE cooking for others.”
“I don’t even think about myself throughout the day. I don’t even notice that I’m hungry until I start to really start to crash and shake.”
“I’ve spent my life taking care of my family, I cooked for 6 people everyday. Now that they’re gone I don’t even want to walk into the kitchen.”
Why is this so hard? Why is the simple act of making a meal for ourselves, only ourselves, so difficult? Why is excusing ourselves from a group to get the good night’s sleep we need so hard? Why don’t we check in with ourselves through the day to see how we’re feeling?
The easy answer is – we don’t know how.
The long answer is - we’ve been conditioned to see self-care as selfish.
That dreaded word…selfish. Selfishness is wrong. We’d never want to be called that.
Or, we feel SO good helping others that we forget to help our own little selves. And we don’t know how. It is a skill that many of us haven’t learned.
A skill. That’s it. If it’s just a skill than we all can learn it.
But, most of our parents and grandparents weren’t taught it either, so working on this skill will feel weird, wrong, and selfish at first. Then, like any other skill, it will become easier with practice.
And then you’ll just do it everyday without thinking about it. Like brushing your teeth or driving a car. A skill just like that.
And we NEED to learn this skill! Our communities are dying because we’re all so exhausted.
We want to help others, but it’s so very hard when we’re exhausted, hungry, and drained…all symptoms of this missing little skill.
So, please just humor me for now. Please. We need this as human beings. Just try it out, practice a little, and see how you feel.
And it doesn’t take much. A lunch made at home. A snack eaten in the late afternoon that will give you the energy to make dinner. Or buy some groceries, and then cook 1 meal. Just try one. See how you feel…and then try another.
Please. Pretty pretty please.