5 Reasons You Need to Be Practicing Some Self-Care
When you’re a busy mom, it can feel like you have approximately zero time to yourself. For anything! I mean, think about the last time you peed alone, let alone got an entire day (or even an hour) alone. We’ve got jobs, and homes, and ALL THESE LITTLE PEOPLE to care for, which leaves bupkis for us. But as hard as it is to find some time, it’s so important. If your tank is empty, your well is dry, and you just used up the last of your fumes, you need some self-care. And STAT. You shouldn’t feel guilty about it, either. These five reasons to practice some self-care prove just how important it is to prioritize yourself.
1. The most important reason to practice some self-care? Your literal health depends on it.
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You ever notice how your kids and partner can bounce back from an illness that takes you down for a solid month? When you’re run down, overworked, tired, and stressed, your immunity takes a nosedive. Not taking care of yourself can have a disastrous effect on your physical health. Taking some time to recharge is like charging your immunity battery, for the next plague one of your darling children brings into your home.
2. We give a lot of ourselves, but we can’t give what we don’t have.
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Start respecting when your tank is empty. Your car can’t run without gas, right? Neither can you. You may want to give your time and energy and efforts to everyone who comes a-callin’ for it, but if you have no time or energy or fucks left to give, then what? If you want to be a giver, sometimes that means being a taker, too.
3. Your life is meant to be lived … BY YOU. Not for other people.
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At the end of your road, do you want to look back and remember all the times you did for others instead of doing for yourself? It’s not selfish to want to enjoy your own goddamn life once in a while. You can still be the person who helps everyone else, and still make your life what YOU want it to be.
4. Speaking of which: no one loves a martyr.
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You may think that your constant sacrifice for the good of others makes you worthy of sainthood. In reality, all it makes you is put-upon and beaten-down, with nothing to show for it. Your friends, family, and loved ones want to see you happy and healthy, and that means making your own health and happiness a priority.
5. The final reason you need to practice some self-care: you fucking deserve it.
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YOU are deserving of health, happiness, love, and enjoyment in your own life. Yes, you! We all are, and it’s high time we started taking it for ourselves. Now, I’m not at all suggesting you completely abandon your family and responsibilities in the pursuit of self-care. It doesn’t have to be that dramatic (as tempting as that is, sometimes). But you work hard. Raising kids is a goddamn marathon. You deserve to take whatever time you need, when you need it, to reward yourself for your hard work and dedication.
Self-care is so important, and I’ll be honest, I need to take a lot of my own advice! Let’s make a pact to make ourselves a priority, everyone. Everyone benefits when mama is happy, right?
(Image: iStock / evgenyatamanenko)
