Self-care

Somewhere along the way "self-care" seems to have taken on a very fluffy connotation - as in taking care of myself means drinking wine while luxuriating in a candlelit bathtub filled with flower petals and a mountain of bubbles. While that all does sound relaxing I think self-care demands much more than that. I think one of my clients put it best when they said, "You know, sometimes self-care means going to the gynecologist." Caring for oneself is not always exciting, pleasant or even relaxing. In fact, most of the time its hard work - choosing the thing that requires extra effort in that moment. I know a thought that often runs through my mind is, "I'm sleepy, I deserve a nap... Yeah! Resting is good for me!" Although there are times when more sleep is the answer, it seems that more often than not what I truly "deserve" in that situation is to power through the post-lunch drowsiness in order to protect my long-term sleep routine later in the night. In what other ways might one be more "care-full" about self-care?

It takes care-full work to grow