This morning, I woke up with a bucket by my bedside, and in bed with me, snuggling me, was a bottle of Tums, a full, cold bottle of water, and DoTerra peppermint oil (helps with nausea). My makeup was removed (if sloppily), and I had set my window AC unit to a comfortable temperature and tucked myself in tight. When I woke up, I was overcome with not stomachaches and migraines, but true amazement at the love I had shown myself the night before, while tired and surely wanting nothing but sleep.
On a daily basis, I may beat myself up for not eating healthily enough, not working out enough, not doing enough to be productive with my day, not being perfect enough. I tell myself that I have failed no matter what I do. If I go out with friends, I get angry that I’ve spent too much money. If I don’t see anybody, I get upset that I haven’t been social. If I workout, I get annoyed that my body fatigues and loses stamina so quickly. If I eat healthy, I think I could have eaten something healthier, or I get annoyed when my Pinterest salad doesn’t hold me over. But last night, I wasn’t worried about money I spent at bars, about throwing off my sleep schedule, about other ways I could have been spending my time – I just wanted to know that I was fed, hydrated, and comfortably tucked into bed.
I don’t need to snuggle a bottle of Tums every night, nor do I want to sleep in past noon on the reg. But that isn’t the point. The point is that if I can go out of my way to show myself small kindnesses when I’m drunk, and if I can accept myself where I am, then I should be able to practice that soberly, too.
Maybe don’t ask yourself, “What would my drunk self do?”, because if I did that, I’d be eating a lot more pizza and doing a lot less homework/writing/reading. But DO ask yourself, “How can I be kind to me today?”
Self-love doesn’t have to mean slacking, either. It doesn’t always have to mean giving yourself a break and allowing yourself to procrastinate with your work, sleep in until the sun is about to go back down, and eat Ben and Jerry’s for three square meals a day. In fact, if you do your work in a timely fashion, maintain a regular sleep schedule, and eat a balanced diet, your body and mind will feel better, so you are actually showing yourself love and care but – excuse me – getting shit done. But if you set good goals for yourself, genuinely strive to meet them, and occasionally fall short? The kind thing to do would be to see that you tried, and plan differently next time.
So how will I soberly be kind to me today? I’m going to get some housekeeping done, so that I won’t be stressed about it during the work week. I’m going to talk to my roommate, because we’ve been on different schedules, and I miss her. I’m going to do yoga because my body is sore and I’d like to head into next week with a clear mind. And I’m going to finish this article to remind myself, and hopefully another, how important and how easy it is to just be kind to myself as I navigate my life.