Self-Care vs. Self-Love
Why is self-care so important and what does it have to do with self-love?
Self-care is a great way to show yourself love and respect. Consider the 5 love languages for a minute; Gifts, Touch, Time, Words of Affirmation and Acts of Service. Read that last one again. Self-care, by definition, is acts of service. Granted it can also be gifts, touch, time and words of affirmation, depending on the type of self-care, but still, self-care is an act of service we do for ourselves. Anytime you engage in self-care you are reminding yourself that you are worthy of love. The more often you do it and the more you make it a priority, the more powerful that act becomes and the more of an impact it has on you and your life. And as that act begins to have more of an impact, the more you will begin to notice self-love.
You will notice a shift begin to happen in your life when you start to make time for self-care rather than fitting self-care into your life. There was a moment a little over a year ago when I realized that I was no longer sacrificing self-care for work, and instead was beginning to sacrifice work for self-care. What I mean by that is that I was no longer letting self-care be something I could negotiate out of my daily routine to make time for more work. Instead I was making it something that I do every day, no matter what. To this day, self-care is a priority in my life. Sometimes I have to redefine what self-care may look like, but it’s always there nonetheless.
This idea that I am a priority, no matter what, has improved my mood overall and gave me a life of balance. Life doesn’t revolve around work. Certainly, work is a large part of my life and I work a lot, but if I begin to notice I am working too much and need a break, I take that break.
