Self care: taking care of me first

I tend to be on the uptight side. I like things a certain way and I am rarely patient. If I ask for something, I like it immediately. Apparently not the entire universe works this way. Moving to Southern California has given me a pass to let things go and not worry so much. After […]

This last year couple of years have had many highs and several lows. But my family is in a really good place and for the first time in a really long time I am finding the air around me thinner and easier to breath. I can write these things now because it took those “lows” to make me realize how many changes I needed to make to find the highs again.

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.

– Lucille Ball

With so many new and exciting opportunities coming up I am finally in a place where I just roll with the punches. There isn’t an elephant sitting on my chest, I can breath without a lump in my throat, and I love the sound of my kids tearing apart their room. By taking care of me, not without sacrifice, I have finally found the joy I so desperately needed to find again. I finally have my anxiety under control and am making a conscious effort to get fit. And by doing these things, I am much healthier and my family is much happier.

After almost two years, I finally joined a friend at boot camp. I had about 300 reasons ready for her on why I couldn’t make it and why I’d have to cancel. Then it hit me, I need to take care of me first. Without a healthy, happy mom, my family suffers.

Moms out there, give yourself a break. Take at least 30 minutes a day for yourself. I know it’s hard and we’ve perfected the excuses over the years as to why we can’t do things for ourselves. But trust me when I say that everything will be waiting for you in the end. Take the 30 minutes. You’ll be in a much better place than if you didn’t.