The Power of Self-care

Hello everyone!

Today I really want to speak about the importance and power self-care. The past couple of months for me, have been rather difficult and stressful, which have consisted of many changes. I have found myself changing a lot in these past couple months but I will save that for a separate blog post, however, I have really realised over these past couple of months the importance of taking care of yourself and your own health and how sometimes you have to be a little selfish and do what is best for you.  For me, I found this really challenging because I am one of those people who likes to put everyone else first and I like to make everyone happy so this has been a challenge for me. At first I did feel guilty and bad but now I feel so much better within myself and happier as a person. It was hard to take the steps but now I feel like I am in control and really taking care of myself.

When I talk about self-care, I am referring to those everyday actions that we make on a daily basis to look after our bodies and minds.  I know when you are going through a challenging time and feeling like the whole world is against you that is so hard to keep going and keep doing the things which may only seem like small things so you think skipping them won’t make a difference, but in reality they do. When I was at my lowest over these past couple of months I really didn’t feel like doing a lot at all and really didn’t feel like I wanted to make an effort but I soon realised that wasn’t helping and was in fact making me feel so much worse about myself.

Even though you may not feel like it, always make an effort with yourself and what you wear etc because it actually makes a huge difference. I really noticed on the days where I didn’t do my makeup or wear the clothes I liked that I felt so less confident and motivated. It made me feel worse about myself. One important thing I have learnt is that no matter how bad you are feeling, always get up, dress up and show up. It honestly does make the world of difference. When I had done my makeup and got dresses into clothes I loved and felt comfortable in felt 10 times more confident and therefore a lot happier within myself.  How you chose to dress and present yourself really does say more about you than you realise and trust me dressing up and putting that bit of makeup on will make you feel better. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely one for lazy and chilled days and no makeup days and just relaxing in some comfy shorts and a top but for me I really want to start making an effort more often because it does help.

Over the past couple of months I have been doing a tonne of research into self-care and into simple changes which can help keep your brain and mind healthier and make you happier and so I am going to share with you a few other tips other than just making an effort everyday which I have really found have really started to change my life.

• The first thing I have started to do is writing in a journal/diary.  If you know me, you know that I find sleeping for the most part incredibly difficult and I am a very light sleeper so I do struggle with sleeping. I will quite often end up waking myself up and thus I don’t ever really get a good quality night’s sleep even if I do sleep for the correct amount of time. I have really found that writing in a journal has really helped me this. It has allowed me to write down all my worries, concerns, feelings, thoughts,memories, tasks, reminders, goals etc. I have found this so helpful and this has really helped me to destress and relax at night because I have everything in my journal I know I am not going to forget anything. Also, I just find the process of writing therapeutic anyway and so this has really helped me.
• The second thing I have been doing is reading. I am an avid reader anyway so finding time to read more was just so exciting for me. I love reading and escaping reality for a while and joining another world. It makes everything so simple and peaceful and I have really enjoyed this.  Reading has really helped to relax my mind and my body and I really have felt more at home myself with a lot more peaceful.
• The next few things I have been doing have been to look after my skin. First I have gotten into a proper skincare routine and have been properly cleaning my skin and using face masks which really helps to purify your skin and keep your pores clear etc. I have also been making an effort to moisturise. If you know me you know I am the worst at this even though I have really dry skin. I am just too lazy and hate it but I have recently been making an effort and it has made the biggest difference to my skin. My skin feels so much better and is a lot clearer and it looking a lot healthier. Similarly, I have been drinking plenty of water and have started trying to eat better. I don’t diet because I don’t believe them. I do make sure I eat a balanced diet and still enjoy to eat pizza and chocolate etc. However, limiting the fatty food really does help to clear your skin and really does help keep your skin clear and healthy.  Eating right does make a huge difference not only to your skin but how your body feels and towards your energy levels.
• The last thing I will mention post is that I have really just been trying so hard to let go and worry less and be selfish. I have recently removed so many toxic people from my life and removed so many friendships and relationships with people which has been so incredibly hard. It has however, in the end made me a much happier person and I really do feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I did feel really guilty to start off with and terrible for admitting that but I have got use to it and I have noticed a difference in my mood. I have started to worry less and care less about things. If isn’t going to matter, don’t stress over it. Worrying and stressing doesn’t help and only makes you feel worse. It is hard but as soon as you are able to let go of your problems and not carry them around with you every second of the day you can go out, live in the moment and enjoy yourself.

I hope this has started to help some of you who are perhaps feeling like I am at the moment. It does get better and time does help whether you believe it or not eventually everything will work out the way it is meant to. Everything happens for a reason so don’t stress it too much. Believe in yourself and have faith in your ability and your love and that will be enough, I promise you that. These difficult times are made to build us up and strengthen us and your attitude throughout the worst times in your life says more about you than you will ever realise. People do love you and do care for you and it is okay to struggle and having a difficult time. It is okay to be sad and angry or frustrated. It is okay to have a bad day and feel low. It is okay to be worried about your insecurities. It is OKAY!! You have a choice. You can live trying to met everyone else’s expectation and therefore failing or you can choose to ignore everyone and love yourself and do what makes you happy and live the life you deserve because even in your darkest of days life is still what you make it and you still have to make the most of the situation. Try and see the positives and be optimistic. Don’t hold grudges and don’t hold onto past hurt. Forgive and let go. Don’t keep that anger inside of you. Take time to care for yourself and do whatever you need to love and care for your body the way you do. You are so lucky to have the body you do and we all have insecurities and we always want to change something but it is important to appreciate your body and mind and take care of them. It really make the biggest difference and changed your life and lifestyle.

Stay strong everyone and stay true to who you are! Let me know if you want any other posts similar to this with me explaining on how I cope and deal with certain situations or if you have comments then feel free to leave them below. Much love,

Lizzie X

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