Taste Life Blog

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Are you working more than ever before and still worried about not doing a “good enough” job? You go home exhausted to a messy home you don’t have time to clean and are too tired to cook? Sound familiar?

Spring is the perfect time for a new beginning. Would it be like if you actually had time for your life?

It all starts with self care. Those two little words sound easy but are so hard to make important. Self care is your personal foundation for a high quality life. A high quality life starts with you.

Self care is one of the first things I look for as a coach. Lack of self care is responsible for those frustrating, and most challenging times in your life…when you have low energy, poor health, a weight higher than your driver’s license, a feeling of overwhelm, an unhealthy relationship, or a job you don’t like anymore.

Making self care your priority is definitely not the norm in our society and can be really frightening. Society does not seem to honor self care. We seem to wear “busy” as a badge of honor. “I’m busy.” “Well I am busier.” Notice your conversations with others. If you notice you are resenting lots of activities you are doing or feel tired all the time and overwhelmed it may be you just need some good old fashioned self care.

Self care really begins with learning to be more selfish. (Rest in peace Grandma Lily) I know I know we were taught to not be selfish. Being selfish conjures up a negative self centered “all about me” person. There is a positive side to being selfish. Selfish = self care.

Relationships oxygenate life and your relationship with yourself if the most important one of your life. Ask yourself: Do I schedule my priorities or prioritize my schedule? When was the last time I did something for me? Am I living a life of joy? If not, why not? What do I need to change?

Lisa, a coaching client hired me to “find happiness, contentment and purpose now and beyond midlife.” She wanted to spend more time on her wants (gardens, beauty in the world, quiet time for recharging, reading and reflection, learning and making a difference). She wanted to “prioritize health, fun and relationships” in her life. She realized that there was a gap in what would tell herself about putting her first and what she would do. She was the “first to fall off the list.”

In only 12 coaching sessions, she identified her needs and values and aligned them with her daily choices. She created a “Lisa’s Room” where she recharges and finds her “calm.” She exercising and sleeping better and spending more time at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She is feeling less stressed, has more patience and is more positive with others.

As we were driving back from buying her sunflower picture Lisa and I were talking how everything is different but nothing has changed. She has the same husband, son, job and home but she just loves her life more. She said, “My attitude has changed. What I choose think and what I choose to do have changed. The people around me have not changed. I was feeling tired and worn out and now I feel relaxed. I choose to be calm.”

Self care is more than making sure you exercise or eat breakfast. It is taking the time to recognize where in your life you are feeling stuck. It starts with you giving yourself permission to be number one on your list. A strong personal foundation based on self care may give you more energy to volunteer or learn a new hobby. You may find like Lisa that the old challenge of work versus life don’t stress you out anymore. In fact, you may find they disappear.

Accept this self care challenge and declare yourself first on your to do list. I’d love to hear what you do for self care in the comments below.

Here to add value to your life and help you be number one on your list of life. Just let me know how, Love Chere

P.S. take a nap

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