Giving Yourself the Gift of Self Care

It had been another grueling day.

Beyond wife and mother, I had also carried roles of chauffeur, cook, maid, full-time employee, boo-boo kisser, toy truck driver, storybook reader, and bather extraordinaire.

By the time I got all three kiddos to bed, I was exhausted.

The temptation arose to walk straight to my bedroom, pull back the covers, and crawl into my nice cozy bed – In work clothes and all.

I walked into my bedroom and took a second to stair at the bed. Call me crazy, but I think it was calling my name.

Now came the tough decision: crawl into bed and wake up unorganized, disheveled, and with whatever’s left of my make up smeared across my face, or take 15 minutes all to myself to jump in a nice, hot shower, and give my face a good, clean wash before crawling into bed.

I’m not gonna lie, sometimes the “just crawling into bed” thing wins out.

But truthfully, deep down inside, I know that taking those extra 15 minutes to myself not only gives me a chance to wash off the day, but it also soothes my soul.

You see, often those 15 minutes are the only 15 minutes I’ve really had to myself all day. No one is asking questions, no one is in need of a drink or a snack or to be wiped on the potty (ug). It’s just… me.

What I’m learning in this phase of life is that, as women, taking some time to ourselves is extremely important.

It gives us a chance to regroup.

Overwhelm is a real thing. I’ve felt it personally, and I’m sure you’ve felt it, too. Chances are, you’re feeling some of it right now! We keep running and running. Giving and giving. We’re natural born helpers.

The only danger with this willingness to run and give and help, is that it’s incredibly easy to burn out. Sometimes we just need to slow down and take time for ourselves. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant or time-consuming. It could simply mean 15 minutes in the bathroom to yourself. (Unheard of when you’re a mom, I know!) But if we don’t make any time to take care of ourselves, our soul loses it’s chance to breathe.

Filling our own cup gives us the strength to fill someone else’s.

This kind of ties into the point above, but this is something my bestie Amanda and I talk about all the time. When our cup runs dry, it’s hard for us to keep ourselves together much less help someone else. I can’t fill someone else’s cup if I haven’t first filled my own.

I honestly can’t drive this point enough because I see it all the time. In my life, in my hubby’s life, and in my friend’s lives. We HAVE TO make time to fill up our own cups. We have to make time to meet up with a friend or get our nails done or heck, even just drive around town for a few minutes with the radio cranked so loud we can’t hear ourselves think.

Just don’t be afraid to make some time to fill up your own cup first! You won’t be much good to your family or friends if you can’t first take care of yourself.

Exercising self-care keeps us grounded.

When I’m scrambling around and miss out on taking time for myself, I tend to get a little… cranky. (Cory, if you’re reading this, no comments please. ;)) When we start to feel depleted, our emotions can take over and create situations that may seem worse in our mind than they actually are at the present moment.

My point is, it’s easy to get carried away with the drama if we’re not taking any time to ourselves to process our emotions and thoughts. If we can take some time to do something our souls need, it tends to bring the emotions back down to a manageable level.

We carry dozens of titles a day – Mother, wife, employee, co-worker, etc. Where do we place ourselves on this list?

Take some time today to think about how you can spend 15 minutes on self-care each day. It can be as simple as going for a walk, journaling, or painting your nails. (No helping a toddler here!) Whatever you need to rejuvenate your soul – find those 15 minutes and do it.