Self-care is often a very unbeautiful thing – Brianna Wiest

Self-care has become synonymous for personal downtime and treating ourselves.
It’s become my go-to reply when trying to justify a takeaway, gaming or a nap.
Just like YOLO being used to justify bad life decisions, the true meaning of self-care has evaded us.
I stumbled across this thread on reddit the other day, and the quote stuck me.
Have I let marketing get to me, or am I still doing enough for my self-care?

“True self-care is not salt baths and chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from.
And that often takes doing the thing you least want to do.”

Self-care is often ugly and consists of the things we’ve been trying to avoid!
By not having that awkward conversation, eating healthily or compiling a budget we are suffering consequences that are much worse than the initial task at hand.
Self-care is strategic organising skills, building new habits, reading internal signs.
How often do we reach for snacks, our phone or drugs when we are trying to avoid what needs to be done? How much easier would our life be if we just did it?
Here’s where you really have to reparent your soul!

Click here for a (free) interactive guide for when you feel overwhelmed and need self-care that I found: So You Feel Like Shit!
It goes through the list of making sure you’ve eaten, showered, exercises, etc, basically covering all the bases to get you feeling great again!

If it’s perfectionism that keeps you at bay, you might want to read my post ‘Perfectionism is like holding my breath‘.
In any case, the best thing for keeping myself accountable for my own self-care has proved to be a daily to-do list. I’m embarrassed to say it includes tasks such as brush teeth, do dishes, skincare, eat breakfast, but also journal, meditate, call friends, write blog post.
If my ADHD or depression get the better of me, I will have a tangible record of it. And I will have a point by point guide on how to feel better again!

“You were taught that love is supposed to be patient and kind, and not something that challenges you and changes you and makes you who you are.”– Brianna Wiest
Let’s change the way we express self-love.
Self-care is not a mood, it’s an action.