The Secret to Successful Self-Care
I used to think I needed to listen to listen to guided meditations every day and journal my worries away.
If you identify as being anxious, we have that in common. Ever since I was a young girl I’ve been a worrier, and while I’ve gotten to know myself over the years and figured out tools that calm my anxious mind, I know I will always identify as being anxious.
Recently I had an experience that brought my anxiety on stronger than it had been in a long time. This experience taught me a lot of things, but one of the biggest was this: things I had been doing to calm my anxiety, weren’t working.
Was this because I had changed? Or because they were never the right practices for me to begin with? Probably some combination of the two.
A common theme in everything I write about on my blog, whether it’s related to my decision to leave my teacher career, my work helping small business owners and educators, or even my self-care practices, is evolution. We all have a story, and just like the characters in any book we read, we grow, change, learn new things, and evolve. With evolution comes the need to take a step back to look at what’s working and what isn’t. And sometimes, it takes a challenging experience to push us into that pause of reflection and re-evaluaton.
The reason I thought I needed to meditate and journal in a specific way was because of things I had read and seen online. Social media can provide us a lot of value, but it can also overwhelm us with things we think we “should” be doing to live our best lives. However, there is no one size fits all and that certainly goes for how we take care of our bodies and minds.
So what types of self-care have been best for me right now? Instead of journaling my worries, or sitting with my thoughts, what’s best for me now is to do things that distract me from those worries and anxious thoughts. For me that looks like organizing, cleaning, working out - by myself! It’s always been my preference :) - reading (I love a good psychological thriller, anyone else?!), working on puzzles, and journaling about my day when I feel called to do so. Not exactly the typical things you read about when it comes to self-care, but they are exactly what has gotten me through a challenging time.
So here’s the secret to success when it comes to self-care: You don’t HAVE to do anything, but you have to do SOMETHING.
Prioritizing health and taking time to create space in your life are important for any phase of your journey, but the way you do so may change overtime, and you definitely shouldn’t expect it to look the same as someone you are following on Instagram or even a friend or family member with the best of intentions.
Only you know what will work for you and I challenge you to pause and think about what types of self-care actually feel good to you at this moment in time. Maybe you need to try or revisit some options in order to figure it out, but once you do I encourage you to find a few minutes every day to prioritize at least one of them. Make prioritizing your well-being, in a way that brings you joy, every single day, and watch the magic happen - the universe works fast when you’re having fun
If you’re new here, I’m Georgia. I’m a former pre-k teacher and I currently support entrepreneurs with websites, content creation, and organization, and educators with support to get licensed and create success in the classroom and beyond. I used to write on this blog more consistently, and in a more organized way, which felt good to me at the time! But in this season of life, it feels right to write only in the moments when I feel called to share something in particular.
Just like my self-care, I am not forcing anything over here :)
