Getting Back to Home Base
Hey everybody! Thanks for stopping by. It’s been quite some time since I’ve written a post about self-care and I can’t help but think that it’s related to the fact that I’ve been neglecting it. A couple weeks ago I didn’t publish a new post because I just wasn’t in a creative space and I don’t like doing anything if I genuinely don’t have the motivation to do it. Could I have written a post on a whim? Sure. But would I have been satisfied with it? Absolutely not. So I decided not to force it and focus more on getting back to home base, aka self-care. I decided to write this post for people like me who are conscious and aware of self-care but still fall short every now and then. If you’re in need of a reboot, here are a few things I do to re-center and get back to home base.
Take A Step Back
From any and everything that caused you to lose sight of home base in the first place (ex. taking a day off from work, saying no to an outing or obligation, etc.). Don’t confuse taking a step back with avoiding the problem. Taking a step back or away gives you the time and space to problem solve, not avoid the problem altogether. Figure out what you can do to remedy the current situation, and figure out what you can do differently next time.
Engage in Self Care
While in the process of taking a step back, use some of that extra time to do some self-care. Start that book that’s been on your reading list for months, journal, sleep in, lay out in the sun, whatever your self-care activity is. Doing something that makes you happy is one of the fastest ways to reset. You’ll more than likely forget about or get over what was bothering you in the first place, which gives you a clean slate going forward. (The Importance of Self Care)
Set Boundaries
This is an extremely difficult thing for me to do, so believe me when I say we’ll be learning how to do this together lol. But taking the time to set boundaries is so important. If you’re anything like me, saying no is also really difficult. Setting boundaries is like a cheat book to your yes’s and no’s. If your friends know that you prefer to go out on Saturday and stay home to reboot on Sunday, you won’t have to say no when they ask you to go out on Sunday because they should already know your boundaries. If you know that you tend to be impulsive when people ask you to do things and say yes on the spot, learn to set that boundary with the phrase “let me think about it” to give yourself some time to get out of that impulsive state and make an informed decision.
Be Grateful
As I’ve stated before in The Importance of Self Care, gratitude has become a very important facet of my self-care journey. As a millennial who’s not quite where I want to be in life just yet, maintaining a constant state of gratitude makes it a lot easier to navigate this space. Gratitude fuels your self-love and your love for others, and helps you maintain a positive outlook. (Check out Want to Be Happy? for more on this!)
That’s it guys, I hope you found this useful. Thanks for journeying with me.