And How it Changed My Life for the Better
Self-care can mean something different for people at various times throughout their lives. Sometimes, self-care is about maintaining a consistent 5 a.m. morning routine, while other times it can mean taking a day off of work or school when feeling burnt out. Social media is full of conflicting messages about how to take care of ourselves, and sometimes we can get confused about how to do so, especially as young people who are just figuring out how to live on our own.
This is why recognizing that self-care is a journey we will be on for the rest of our lives is so important. Looking at it as a short-term undertaking will only get us so far. I know that social media has impacted my experience with self-care. I’ve definitely felt the pressure to participate in some sort of glow-up challenge that involves an intense workout routine, skincare regime, etc. However, after hearing a particular piece of advice from my mom, I now better understand how I should be aiming to take care of myself. That piece of advice is: “Take care of yourself like you would take care of your child.” As simple as it sounds, this notion has changed my outlook on self-care for the better.
This piece of advice can apply to many important aspects of life and has made the entire ordeal of self-care so much easier for me. It helped me realize that taking care of yourself is not about buying the most expensive skincare products or having the most disciplined workout routine possible. Nor is it about being lazy and letting yourself do whatever you want because “self-care.”
Whenever I am at a crossroads, I think about what I would tell myself as a parent. Would you let your child stay in bed till 2 pm every day? Probably not. Would you let your child overwork themselves to a state of burnout simply to get a good grade? Again, the answer is probably not.
This piece of advice has helped me take care of myself in more ways than one. It’s forced me to make myself nutritious food because I wouldn’t let my kid have pizza or mac and cheese at every single meal, so I shouldn’t allow myself to either. But if my kid finished all their fruits and veggies of course they deserve a sweet treat. This concept has also helped me become a lot easier on myself. I would never tell my kid they are worthless or lazy for not getting an assignment done on time.
I think that overall this notion just has to do with balance. We obviously would want our children to be well-rounded individuals, and this is achieved through give and take. We’d want them to be decent humans, and while this requires some discipline, we also know that being hard on them all the time isn’t the answer. Whenever I’m feeling down or off in my life, I try to remind myself of this advice, and it helps me so much. Especially in our early adulthood, we still need to be parented a little bit, and doing it ourselves is completely possible.