Loving On Me

SELF CARE

Well hello friends and fellow readers. Yes, I’m back with another little nugget that I hope will bless you. Sometimes I have to stop

and say, “Girl what are you thinking! Why are you going in all of these directions? You can’t do it all! I know, but who’s going to do

it?” Have you ever heard yourself saying that? Now I ask you, who is taking care of you? Loving on ourselves begins with self-

discipline. Self-discipline is the ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses; the ability to pursue what one thinks is

right despite temptation to abandon it. Well, I have to tell you that you have to take care of you. Self-care is defined as the practice of

taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health. It is also defined as the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own

well-being and happiness, in particular during times of stress. This is the one that I want to focus on.

Self-care involves not only the physical, but the emotional, the spiritual, and the mental. Awhile back I wrote a piece about

unplugging. Some days that’s just what I have to do for the sake of my sanity. Have you ever had those days when you’d like to pull

the cover over your head and stay in bed? Well, I have. I just want to totally disconnect. But unfortunately, life doesn’t work like that.

When life begins to beat up on me, and challenge me in ways that I never expected, I find that taking a walk and spending a little

quiet time works wonders. Not only does it cause me to hear my thoughts, but it also allows me to exercise my physical body.

Exercising helps strengthen my body and my mind.

Self-care involves taking care of the whole being. When I look in the mirror, I can only see the outer me, an image of who I want to

be. Am I pleased with what I see? How have I been doing with the areas of my temple? I know, that’s a loaded question. Sometimes

the simple answer is in “burnout.” So, I’m eating right, exercising, and cleansing my system. I thought that when I renewed my

temple that I would be happy, yet my soul wasn’t satisfied. I had a little more work that needed to be done. Suddenly those walks took

on a new dimension. They became a time to talk to God, to tell Him of my fears. “Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you.”

(1 Peter 5:7)

As I walked and we talked, I tried to listen, but sometimes I couldn’t hear. I was so consumed with all of the earthly things that I

needed to do that I couldn’t hear. Well, hear me, put a “No” in your vocabulary. Love and care for and help others but recognize your

limitations. Self-care means just that, taking care of self. Take a walk, get a massage, get a manicure or a pedicure, spend quality time

with your loved ones. I saw a quote that said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Slow down. Be kind to you, put you first and accept that

you are human with limitations. I go back to the beginning. I have to have self-discipline in order to fully embrace self-care.

When I say no, and focus on me, that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about others, it simply means that I am gaining strength in doing

what is right for me. I’m learning to let go of that which was not meant for me to handle. I’m gaining a greater perspective of the fact

that I can’t fix “it.”

God is helping me to grow into that inner joy that manifests itself as outward peace. Self-love leads me on the road to self-care. When

I care for me, then I am better able to help you. Jesus said for us to cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. When things get

too heavy for us, and the stress begins to build, there is a place of sweet relief. That place is in the arms of the one who can bear all of

our burdens. The one who can fix our hearts when they are feeling overwhelmed. It is He who can help us regulate our minds so that

they rest in a state of peace.

Start each day by loving on you. Take a few minutes every day to encourage yourself. Look in the mirror and say, I am special, I am

loved, I am blessed. With God’s help I will let the light in me shine. As I sign off, I’m going to tell you that God loves you and

so do I. Also, in the interest of self-care, I am going to remind myself that He loves me, and I love me too.

We’ll talk again later, but until then I wish you love, joy, peace and blessings. ~Barbara G.