Self care.

Self care. Filling your bucket. Taking care of yourself. Self-compassion. Personal vacation. Me time. Mental health day. Lots of names for the same thing – take care of yourself.

No one else can do this for you.

Figure out what fills you up and keeps you going. Then make sure you are doing it. Again, no one else can do this for you. Being around other people might fill you up. Someone giving you an unexpected gift might fill you up. Someone cleaning your house or cooking you dinner might be just what you needed. But you have to own your own self care. You cannot expect someone else to do it for you. (A little bit of a tirade, I know, but important nonetheless.)

Own it. And do it. Take care of yourself.

And here’s the deal. I am not always very good at this. I go through periods of great self care… and then I forget, or get busy, or slack off, or push those self-care items to the bottom of the to-do list. But I always get a reminder when I have strayed too far off the self-care path. It usually comes in the form of my body (mind-body-spirit connection people!) giving me a very clear message – I become ill or have pain or both. The body is really good at reminding me to take care of myself. Really good.

So, if I were my own best friend I would remind myself to take care of myself. Figure out what those things are that fill me up. And do them. Regularly. Wishing everyone peace during this time of global uncertainty.