There are many times in life when suddenly your ability to care for yourself goes out the window. In a flash, all of your learned habits become extremely difficult to uphold, and before you know it, you are letting yourself get behind with your own self-care. When this happens, however, it is best not to let yourself beat yourself up about it - as this will only actually make it worse in the long run. Instead, you should aim to get yourself back on track - not by deriding yourself, but quite the opposite - by taking positive steps in the right direction. Given that these circumstances are usually stressful or out of your control, it can be hard to do this - but still entirely possible with the right approach.
Dealing with Life Situations
First of all, you need to make sure that you are actually dealing with the life situation which has caused you to put your self-care on hold. This is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if there is something like this in your way, it is a good idea to get it out of your way - and that means solving the problem, if possible. Secondly, your life situation is not separate from your ability to care for yourself but instead wound up within it. By dealing with the one, you are also helping the progress of the other. Fast solutions are best. If the situation is a divorce or a break-up, go for out-of-court solutions to get back on track faster. If it is the death of a loved one, grieve properly. Deal with your reality.
Putting Yourself First as Self-Care
Usually, in times of stress, we have a tendency to look to others for guidance, leadership, and support. This is natural, healthy and to a certain extent useful. But if you have started to notice that you have probably been playing too much emphasis on others, then you might want to remember to try and put yourself first. This means stepping back, taking a moment to ask yourself what your own opinion on the matter is, and doing whatever you think to get your self-care back on track. You are the most important person in your self-care, so this is a hugely valuable thing to bear in mind.
Being Kind to Yourself
If you are someone who often derides yourself for feeling a certain way or failing to be always positive, it’s helpful to learn not to engage in that behavior. Ultimately, it doesn’t help. What does help is to be as kind to yourself as you can manage so that you can look after yourself both now and in the future? You will find that this makes an enormous difference, so it is really worth thinking about. The kinder you are to yourself, the more likely you are to be able to embrace your self-care - exactly when you need to do that the most.
This post was written in collaboration. Collaborative writing means that while I have contributed to this post and edited its content and formatting, I am not its original author. By posting this content on my blog, I receive financial compensation. Want to guest post for Jihi Elephant? Learn more here.
