Self-Care And The Art Of Balance

A weekly theme valid for a whole life

Everybody seems to awaken to the need for self-care, lately.

I made it my working professional mission long ago, taking care of mental health issues, and psychosomatic diseases. I write sometimes to inspire others taking care of themselves, and have also revealed some personal details about what I do to keep my balance.

This time I’ll do something different, and dive a little deeper into the active reality of this theme in my ongoing life. I want to discover what’s working right with ME, and what I could improve. Let’s call it a test of self-care performance, guiding you into the nitty-gritty of my habits.

Appearance

Hairdresser, gorgeous dresses and shoes, make-up. I gave up on this. Regrets? Once in a while, less than I would imagine.

I like to feel comfortable with my dressing from top to toe. Excessive fashion only on particular occasions.

It’s a way simpler than before, when I worried about appearance, and my look had to be according to the work environment I found myself in. Now, I simply put on whatever I feel I want to put on every day. This helps me a lot with my inner well-being! And I don’t worry what people may say about my old fashioned hairstyle with natural color.

Routine

Coffee is the first thought of the day. I may exceed sometimes with it. As a rule, I try to keep it to less than three cups a day to avoid experiencing extreme irritability, and episodes of tachycardia. But, I have to tell you, I love coffee!

Washing and dressing gives me the feeling of being active and productive, even if it’s just household chores, making lunches, writing, or cleaning my cats’ litter boxes. So that’s the second action of the day.

Meditation, and reading come at the top list among the “important” daily activities. Usually this is possible due to the collaboration with my purrfect friends, who start making noise playing with everything until I get up. They work, fundamentally, as an alarm substitute, and are very reliable. Obviously the awakening correspond to the rising of the sun, allowing me to take advantage of the day from its very beginning.

I would wake up early in any case, because this gives me an idea of “doing the right thing”, according to my parents’ strict rules. An appreciated habit that is part of my routine, to give me an advantage on the multiple activities I plan for the day. Thank God I meditate to keep it at the “right” pace.

Lunches take place at determined hours, together with my family members. Sometimes I don’t have breakfast if I don’t feel hungry. Generally, I maintain the three food appointments avoiding other snack moments. Sugar is my dolent point. As for coffee, it’s hard to give it up. I’m lucky because this doesn’t affect my body shape, generously provided by good genes, and a rapid metabolism, leaving me with the same body I had at eighteen. But prevention of diabetes would advise to reduce its consumption a bit.

Carbohydrates are also abundant in my diet, and the new phase we are going through with my husband making bread at home is an inevitable temptation to consume them too much. Up until now I’ve had a healthy diet, so that it may not be too detrimental to a perfect balance…exception made for that growing belly!

Inner well-being

Apart from struggles in relationships, which are not my forte, especially when pertaining to family issues, my inner being is solid as a rock. It’s not the noise on the surface I’m referring to. It’s the innermost feeling of deep love, and communion with the Universe, I’ve been gifted to experiment, and to which I run in difficult moments to regain balance.

All the blah-blah-blah of the mind doesn’t help feel better. The connection with the source of blissfulness doesn’t include the chattering mind. Silence is there.

I hope some of you know what I mean.

Writing

Even if I don’t want to admit it loudly, writing has been kind of a therapeutic aid during these years. I had used journaling many years ago, and I also had a register for my oniric activity which was quite intense, and significant at the time I was into my psychoanalytical journey.

Then life took over. I wrote sporadically for myself. Some notes here, and there. I had enough of writing for my job.

The progressive reacquisition of the habit of writing on this platform meant a lot to me, and still has meaning. I try to focus on important themes, like the one I’m writing about today, but I often let go of my ridiculous thinking, weird stuff, and unuseful ideas that come to my mind. To the detriment of my poor readers. Sigh!

Writing is helping me freeing all this from my mind. Once it’s written, I feel better, free (sorry for the repetition), and energized with new joy I can reinvest into the daily course of life. It gives me an unexpected balance. To me, this is also self-care.

Conclusion

I think I’m not going too bad after all. What I try to focus on, more than before, is the inner feeling of wellness. I like to feel well. This is translating in letting go of many aspects I previously battled with. There’s no sense in losing patience for things you can’t adjust anyway.

This is written in response to Liberty Forrest’s “Newsletterish” (below). “Invitation: Do you struggle with balance when it comes to self-care, or with life in general? Are there areas of your life or habits in which it’s easier or more challenging to maintain balance? Do you make space in your life for your inner world? If so, what keeps you balanced in that way?”

Also appreciate this educational read on self-care by AJ on HHH.