Recently, I wrote about the need for patience, particularly during this busy time of year and ways in which to show kindness to others.
In order to show kindness to others you must first be kind to yourself.
Eat Balanced Meals
Treat your body well and eat balanced, nutritious meals. Try to keep the sugary treats to a minimum. Taste your food before adding extra salt. Plan to bring along a healthy snack if you are out and about for hours at a time. This will help you to stay healthy.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Research indicates that we need between six and eight hours of sleep every night. I used to think that I could make up the sleep I lost if I stayed up late for a night or two by sleeping in, getting up later. The experts say that it’s not possible to make up for sleep lost. The same experts say that having a regular time to get up and a regular bed time is best for your personal circadian rhythm. You can read more about sleep here. For even more articles on how to get a good night’s sleep check out this compilation of posts .
Delegate
When you find that you have way too much to do think about your list. Is everything necessary? Can you postpone an item on your list to another day? Is there something on your list that someone else can handle for you?
Give Yourself Grace
Forgive yourself. None of us are perfect. Do your best and be done. Give yourself the grace of understanding if whatever it is, isn’t as perfect as you had hoped. Learn from the event and move on.
Do Something Nice for Yourself
Take time to relax and refresh. Read a magazine. Watch a movie that you want to watch. Take a bubble bath. These are just ideas. Think about what you would like to do to relax and then set aside some time for yourself. It doesn’t have to be an entire day. Half an hour just for yourself is sometimes enough!
Give yourself a pat on the back when you do something well. Smile at yourself when you do something goofy. Be comfortable with yourself. When you treat yourself kindly it’s easy to treat others with kindness.
I’ve been trying to be better about taking actual rest each Sunday. I still have a long way to go, but I’m becoming more and more convicted that this is necessary to keep me from becoming hyper-focused on my to do list. Surprisingly, my husband noticed. I’m hoping to do even better in 2019!
How nice that he noticed!
I think I do most of these things, most of the time, but when the going gets tough, it’s easy to put my own needs on the back burner. Thanks for these important reminders!
You’re welcome!
I love these suggestions, especially this time of year. We make ourselves last on the giving list and we really should be first. Thanks for sharing these ideas to take care of ourselves.
Thank you, Sabrina! I agree that we need to put ourselves first more often.
Very good points. I agree with them all and must remind myself of them. Sometimes it is very hard to do.
Thank you!
What an important topic to write about, especially during this time of year that is often fraught with added stress. Even though holidays are supposed to be joyful, they also can mean overindulging (many sweets, less sleep, or forgoing self-care routines.) Simply reading the words “bubble bath” makes me feel relaxed. Maybe I can use them as my call to action for when it’s time to engage in some additional self-care.
It’s always good to have an action word or phrase. I love that yours might be ‘bubble bath’!
Love the part about giving ourselves grace – a little more freedom to be who we are, warts and all. Because we all have them, don’t we? 😉 Beating ourselves up rarely leads to improvement – thank you for the important reminder.