Looking Out for Number One: How and why you should take care of yourself
In this busy modern world we now live in, it can become easy to stop taking care of yourself. Trying to juggle family, friends, raising children, and a job, to name a few responsibilities amongst many, can mean you often push aside your own needs and desires in favor of trying to keep up with everyone else’s. Even though you are the kind of selfless person who is always looking out for other people, it is essential you look out for yourself. In this article, you will find out not only why, but how, you can start to look after yourself and start enjoying life to the full as an individual as opposed to just someone everyone in your life seems to lean on.
photo/ Jürgen Rübig
Why you need time for yourself
Before embarking on the how you need to understand the necessity of making time just for you. There are many reasons why you should take care of yourself, but principle among them is so you can be in control of your mind. If you never stop working or helping others, you might well forget to think about yourself, but your mind subconsciously doesn’t. By not taking any breaks or time alone, you can become irritable and angry easily, lose focus on tasks, and find yourself so overtired at the weekend that you don’t have the energy to do anything fun and just want to sleep. This, of course, is not a great space to be in and allowing yourself to take a breather every now and again can completely alleviate these negative emotions over time.
Another important thing to remember is that if you want to help out others all the time, you won’t be able to do so effectively without having that alone time you need so much to recharge and refocus.
Getting some ideas
The first thing you need to start with is finding meaningful and personal ways you can have this ‘Me Time.’ To one person, having a bath with lots of candles might be wonderful, but to another person going for a brisk run might be the right way forward. The point here is that time for yourself needs to be as unique as you are. If you get stuck, never fear, as there are many ways to look after yourself. It’s a great step to try out lots of different ideas before settling on what is perfect for you.
The need for relaxation
Of course, time for yourself doesn’t just have to be little everyday things like reading a book or going for a walk. It is also important to indulge every once in a while and to allow yourself a treat to look forward to every month. One idea for this is to get a professional massage that you can book from a reputable salon such as heavenandearthmassage.co.uk. Having something luxurious in the diary will give you a day to look forward to every few weeks to keep you going.
Taking care of yourself is easy to do, and it’s a necessity, so start by finding out what is good for you.
Author: Carol Trehearn
