Here we are at the beginning of summer and on many people’s minds is taking some time off. Wouldn’t be great to sit on the beach and read or go to a day spa instead of being trapped in your usual routine? When those thoughts start that means it’s time to treat yourself.
I’m guilty of constantly neglecting myself and putting other people and projects ahead of taking care of me. It’s a normal occurrence for me to miss meals, get maybe five hours of sleep, and be involved in helping someone with something. The thing that I forgot is that if I don’t take care of myself no one is going to step in and do it for me. It’s my responsibility to take care of my own needs and treat myself right.
So over the past year I’ve been dedicating more time to taking care of myself and my wants and needs. I will admit that for those who are like me and use to taking care of everyone else, it’s not an easy transition to make automatically. I definitely had to get use to saying no to people more and get use to saying yes to myself. Nonetheless, it’s made me much happier and I now have more energy because of it.
The question that you have to ask yourself is do you see yourself as worthy to be pampered and just enjoy life. If your answer is yes then here are a few practices that I’ve started doing and you can try in order to treat yourself.
1. Learn To Say No- You don’t have to help everybody with everything. Start to be selective about what you want to be a part of and create some parameters to help you determine if it’s worth your time and energy.
2. Spend Some Money on You- One thing that I love to do is shop and the other is eat. So I designate days (like Friday) to go out to eat a good meal. Also twice a month I will schedule a salon appointment and get my hair or nails done. Taking some time to be pampered goes a long way.
3. Get Active- This is an area that I stayed away from for years, but now I’m focusing on my health and fitness is becoming a priority. There are so many benefits to exercising such as sleeping better, more energy, and weight loss. Regardless if you take a walk or go to the gym, getting active works.
I completely agree a mini mani/pedi is a must or massage. Just a overall peaceful day filled with serenity and meditation.
Yes. Getting away and just unplugging from life is a great way to reconnect with you. Some days I like to stay away from my computer and phone (as much as a I can) so that I can regroup. I go out to the park or for a drive and it’s wonderful to just enjoy the work around me.