Self-Care: The Common Complaints & Problems
I often hear three complaints from women when the conversation of self-care comes up. I’ll break them down into three groups. Just for fun Beauties, leave a comment below if you currently fall into or have ever fallen into any of these groups. 🙂
Group 1: Neglecting Self-Care
You know you need to get better at incorporating it into your life, but you often neglect it and put it aside. It’s one of those things that sort of slips through the cracks.
Kind of like remembering to take a daily multi-vitamin, in that you know it’s needed to be healthier, but you get side-tracked, distracted, start doing this, that, the other and it never happens.
Or maybe, a better analogy is something like…decluttering that closet you haven’t gotten around to. Like me, you’ve been saying you were going to for months.
It would make life so much easier if it were organized, but you push it aside and procrastinate. That is until you reach the breaking point where you realize you can’t find that perfect blouse for work since everything is scattered in places without rhyme or reason.
Or maybe for you, it’s like going to the dentist. You know you should go yearly for teeth cleaning but you somehow never find your way into that foreboding plastic dental chair, unless or until there’s a problem throbbing…right side, upper, back row!
Group 2: Guilt About Self-Care
You know you need it in your life, but you feel guilty about taking time for self-care. You are constantly feeling pulled in a million different directions! There’s work, the kids, your spouse, responsibilities… this needs to be done, that needs to be done…It’s exhausting, isn’t it?
Are you trying to get everything done? You’re frazzled, tired, and quickly reaching that tipping point of “burnout”.
You know you need a break, some balance; you know you need to step back and just have a little “me-time” even if it is just for a few minutes. But the idea of taking this time makes you feel that dreadful 5 letter word… GUILT!
Group 3: Don’t Have The Time For Self-Care
Much like group two, you desperately need to start practicing better self-care, but you feel like your life is so busy with so many demands and responsibilities that you simply don’t know how to make time for it.
You have work, errands, family, kids, and then there are those unplanned things that pop up stealing what little time you may have had…at the end of the day you collapse into bed exhausted, only just to do it all again tomorrow.
The busier and more demanding your life is, the more you genuinely need self-care most of all Beauties. And much like the other two groups, you need a solution to help. Check out the solution to help you make time for self-care in this blog post!
My Story
Now I myself, have fallen into each of these groups at one time or another in my life. During one phase in my life, it just kind of slipped through the cracks because I didn’t make it enough of a priority in my life.
I also experienced stages when I felt guilty for taking time away from my daily responsibilities. I was a people pleaser and had trouble saying “no” when I was on the verge of collapsing internally.
And I additionally went through a point in my life when I felt like there were simply not enough hours in the day to get everything I needed to get done fully completed on a daily basis. As a result, the idea of trying to find some time to fit in self-care seemed impossible.
With every scenario and no matter what group you fall into, let me tell you from experience, it’s essential to be proactive. You need to do things now before you reach the point of burnout.
And it doesn’t require much, just something that helps you to feel restored, balanced, and whole. It could be something small daily or something you do once a week.
Group 3 don’t fret, check out this article with some specific solutions to help you find time for it! It includes a self-care time management planner with instructions for use and steps to get started! Feel free to also check out some of these self-care tips on how to use a simple beauty routine that might help for keeping you emotionally and mentally healthy.
For the rest of this article, we are going to focus on solutions for Groups 1 and 2.
Tips To Help
Group 1: Self-Care Slips Through The Cracks
Rather than guilt or time being the issue, it slips through the cracks, as your mind is just on other things, so for you, the solution is about making it more of a priority in your life.
Instead of waiting for your health to give you problems because you have been running on empty or almost empty for forever, you need a reminder to be more proactive. And I know from my own experience with this, it starts with a healthy mindset, which is where motivation is absolutely vital!
The key to staying motivated towards any goal is little visual day-to-day reminders. You need gentle reminders that you can look at each day to help push you towards making some changes.
Group 2: Feeling Guilty About Taking Time For Self-Care
What you must remember most of all is that self-care is not a selfish act; it is absolutely necessary for you to be the best version of yourself.
Your feeling overwhelmed and exhausted; it’s not good for anyone. It’s not good for your family, your co-workers, your friends…and certainly not you.
Self-Care Is Your Oxygen Mask
I once heard an analogy about self-care, comparing it to words we are all familiar with, the ones you hear each time you fly the friendly skies. “You must place your own oxygen mask on first before helping those seated near you”.
Why?? Well, imagine there’s a child seated next to you. You put the child’s mask on first, but then before placing your own on, you pass out. They wouldn’t be able to help you, would they??
But if you put your mask on first, the oxygen would keep you awake, allowing you to then help them. Even if they passed out, once you put theirs on, the oxygen would eventually wake them back up.
This same thing applies to your daily life. If you are taking care of everyone else, putting everyone’s needs before your own, what happens when you run out of oxygen, so to speak?
If others depend on you, it is that much more important that you take care of yourself. You are needed, but even more so, the “best version of yourself” is needed. No one can be dependable, strong and capable when they are burnt out or exhausted.
And when you start taking better care of yourself, you will find you are better able to take care of others.
So never feel guilty about practicing self-care and taking that much-needed pause in your life. It is your sacred time with yourself to reboot, revitalize, and restore yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You deserve that time, and you are worth it.
When you start recognizing your genuine worth, as the beautiful God made being that you are, you will stop feeling guilty. But I know that sometimes, we all just need a little reminder to recognize our worth. We need reminders to make ourselves a priority and make a commitment to ourselves through self-care.
The Solution To Practicing Better Self-Care
Visual Reminders! (For Groups 1 & 2)
To assist you along this path, here is a FREE printable you can download for encouragement. Print it out and put it on the fridge, a wall, or even your desk…read one quote a day!
Group 1, if you start reading just one powerful quote a day, it can help inspire you to start taking positive action towards a healthier life where you practice more self-care.
Group 2, my hope is that these quotes will remind you of the importance of taking care of yourself and help you to practice more self-love. I hope they help you to see your worth and feel empowered Beauties!
Are you ready to start taking better care of yourself and become a better version of yourself? You Can Do This Beautiful!
Comment and tell us which group you fall into? Feel free to share this post with friends you think might benefit from it.
Download the 42 Empowering Motivational Quotes To Avoid Burnout (6 WEEKS of Reminders to Show Up For Yourself)
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I have always taken time for self care. Start my day that way.