Ten Paths to Becoming a
Passionate Self-Care Practitioner

Julie Jordan Scott

  

One of the most sure methods to stay on a focused, purposeful course in your business, relationships. . . in all of your life, is to take extra special care of yourself. 

Often what happens is exactly the opposite: everyone and everything else in our lives takes precedence over our personal needs. 

What happens then?  Everything crumbles.  Nothing works.  The entire system shuts down.

I challenge you to take to heart each of these Paths towards Passionate Self Care.  Print this list out.  Add any other specific methods you use to care for yourself. And next? Apply them!  Yes, DO them!  Without fail!  This leads us elegantly into our first path:

1.  Recognize that Self Care is simply NOT optional.  In order to keep all of your life balanced and running smoothly in the same way you schedule maintenance for your car or regular hair cuts for yourself and your children, you MUST be sure that you are respecting and caring for yourself exceptionally well.  It is of EXTREME importance.  So get out your calendar and plan some of these activities into your life.

2.  Just as physical clutter can get in our way, mental and emotional clutter has the same result.  De-cluttering or de-clogging will come in personalized forms.  Some that I use regularly include shifting my environment from indoors to outdoors, taking a walk, de-cluttering my physical space, crafting with my children, telephoning a friend who makes me laugh.  Try various methods and be sure to prevent mental and emotional clutter.  If it shows up, immediately take action to clear it away.

3.  Arrange some "Play Dates" not for the children in your life: for yourself!  One of my goals is to have lunch with friends at least once weekly.  This is an adult play date.  Another play date for me and my children is to go skating at the local roller rink.  We have several other mutual parent/child combinations who also enjoy skating, so we meet them at the rink to delight in the exercise and the company.  Invite friends to your home and get out the Pictionary or play Charades or whatever game you particularly enjoy.  Believe me, you will laugh harder than you have in a LONG time when your intention is simply to have a great time.

4.  Develop and practice a hobby.  One of my favorite newer hobbies  is painting.  No, I am not a gifted visual artist and no, I do not paint canvas.  I enjoy painting terra cotta pots.  Yes, this might sound unusual at first.  I enjoy painting pots and then using them for plants that I glean from clippings from  my indoor plants.  Lately I have been painting pots and planting small indoor plants in them to give away.  My intention is to encourage people to create Gratitude Gardens inside their homes. The joy is simple AND immense.

5.  Get adequate rest.  (If you started laughing, stop!)  Get on a regular pattern of sleep and stick to it.  Realize that you truly WILL have plenty of time even if you do not stay up later than feels good to get "just this one last thing" accomplished in your day.  When you become a Passionate Self Care Practitioner, you will be amazed at your increased productivity.

6.  Keep your arms open to receive the people into your life who are there, ready to support you in continuing to grow in Self Care.  There are people in your extended circle right now who are waiting for an invitation to serve you in some way.  Its up to you to recognize who those individuals are and to invite them in with specific ways to empower you and lighten your load.  Practice making simple requests at first, and then grow accordingly.  Be sure to complete the process by opening your arms to them in a big hug and lots of verbal gratitude.  There is no other rewarding gift like a face that is lit up with joy and embracing arms.  You deserve both.

7.  Take time to be pampered on a regular basis.  What does that mean to you?  Maybe its a regular manicure and pedicure.  Possibly its a weekly massage.  It might be creating a dinner co-op group.  (Five families each cook one night time meal weekly for all five families.  This makes one big night of cooking and the other four nights of no cooking!)  Or it may mean having an evening to spend exactly as you want to with your partner once a week or monthly.  Like all of these ideas: it is up to YOU to experiment and see what suits and serves you.

8.  Write a love letter to yourself and read it aloud daily.  Remember during courtship when deeply felt letters of love arrived in the mail?  There is nothing like it.  Take the time to romance yourself through recognizing what is special about YOU.  One way to start is to write a Top 10 List.  My friend, Glenda, practices writing "The Top 10 Things I Love About You" for others especially when they are feeling low.  You may start there: writing Top 10's for others.  Then write a Top 10 for yourself.  Finally, write a standard love letter.  To YOU.  Read it aloud.  Even record it and listen to it with your eyes closed.  Revel in self love.

9.  Respect yourself in thoughts and in action.  Merriem Webster defines respect in this way:  "to consider deserving in high regard".  Becoming a Passionate Self Care Practitioner will empower you to see yourself in this way.  Unless you respect and care for yourself adequately, no one else will, either.  And do not even pause or hesitate.  You DO deserve high regard.

10.  Prove to yourself that Self Care is of utmost importance in your life so you can serve others from your most heart centered self.  Take two tall glasses from your cabinet.  Take several smaller glasses out of your cabinet as well.  Fill one of the tall glasses almost completely with water.  Put a small amount of water in the second glass.  Now pour the water from the tall glass into the smaller glasses.  Read one of these tips and think of ways to apply it into your life.  With each application option you create, put more water into that tall glass: replenishing it.  Fill more small glasses. Think of more ideas.  Continue to fill.  Look at the almost empty glass.  See how many small glasses you can fill with it.  Do not replenish.

The large and perpetually refilling glass represents the Passionate Self Care Practitioner.  The large non-refilling glass is the person who has chosen to ignore his or her own needs.  It is obvious to see what the results are both in filling glasses and in having a fulfilled life.

Now, the choice is yours.  Become a Passionate Self Care Practitioner.


Julie Jordan Scott is a Personal Success Coach who left her career as a government bureaucrat and built a successful business in less than six months. She now combines mothering 4 children with inspiring people worldwide with her books, e-zine, teaching and personal coaching.

  


 
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