Self-Care & Self-love; not selfish

After an exhausting week, as more assignments stream in and more meetings are scheduled, we often feel drained. We feel this weight above our shoulders that doesn’t seem to leave, it pulls you down and acts as an obstacle to any future activities. After such a busy and draining week, we are desperately in need for a break, but who’s got the time when you have so many tests or important meetings coming up? Whenever you feel any physical pain, like a terrible stomach-ache or a throbbing pain in your back, certainly you head to the doctor, don’t you? But, why don’t we seek a health professional when we feel emotional pain? This is where self-care falls into the picture, self-care could just be 5 minutes of meditation or even a week long holiday. Communities must work together for making self-care a practice of emotional aid, it’s important to take a break once in a while, whether you must take 10 minutes out of your busy schedule or take the week off.

Self-care can be practiced in hundreds of different ways; the way your practice self-care will unquestionably be different from the way I do. Self-care is something we often overlook; we get too carried away in our busy lives to even take care of ourselves. All over social media, we see posts being shared and circulated with statements like “only ugly people can repost this”, “repost if you’re ugly”, etc. Instead of spreading positivity and making the world a better place by boosting people’s self-esteem, we end up seeing these kinds of depreciating posts. As I was scrolling through Instagram, I noticed how a vast majority of people had re-shared this post or others similar to it; by sharing such posts, we bring ourselves and our confidence down. But social media never did, never should and never will decide what you are and what your worth is, no matter how clichéd that may sound. Instead of pulling yourself down, its important we learn how to pull ourselves back up, by giving ourselves the love and care that we deserve.

With the troubling situation that surrounds us currently, where we must adapt to new digital ways of living and socializing, we tend to get caught up with the negativity around us… and news channels aren’t making this any better. The constant negativity and depreciating posts/comments that surround us have an influence on who we are, what we think, and more importantly, what we think of ourselves. What we think of ourselves influences our performance and truly everything we do on a daily basis, and when we learn to love ourselves and think positively, self-care will come more easily to us. Self-care helps you feel renewed, and in my personal experience, giving time to myself (or like some people like to call it; “me-time”) relieves me from my daily stress and anxiety… I’m certain that self-care can help you learn how to love yourself a little more too. In spite of your busy schedule and silly excuses, there is always time for self-care, and there are numerous ways to practice it. Self-care can be anything from asking for help, to taking a nice warm bath, reading, making yourself a warm cup of coffee or hot cocoa, meditation, stepping outside for some fresh air, limiting your social media exposure and setting boundaries, etc. Self-care is anything you want it to be.

Self-care and self-love are different, but to live a healthy, fulfilled and happy life, both of them are equally as important. Self-love is about cultivating acceptance for yourself, while self-care is the act or practice of taking care of yourself emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually. “Give yourself the same care & attention you give to others and watch yourself bloom”. Make your happiness a priority, and learn the importance of seeking acceptance from yourself instead of others. Self-care is not selfish, and self-love doesn’t make you narcissistic, because at the end of the day, when you take care of yourself, you’re appreciating and caring for yourself in a way that allows you to be an improved person for both you and the people around you.

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