Your Focus

With the festive season done and dusted, the start-up hype of the year settling down to the normal pace and patterns, and life getting back to the way it was before, what now as we leave the Season of Giving behind once again.  Yes, many of us were in that mode, with the giving happening towards others, as well as the receiving being from others, all of which makes the Season so special in that arena, but where does that leave you now?  Where does your attention and focus lie?

Others First

So much of the time, we are focussed on making sure our parents, children, partners, family, friends and even our pets are taken care of, given some attention and affection, all before of taking care of ourselves.  Some of this can be put down to giving natures but a fair amount can be attributed to conditioning behaviours and in some cases guilt.  Guilt that taking care of oneself first is selfish – but is it really?  We are all familiar with the term that you we should ensure our own oxygen masks are firmly in place before helping others, that you can’t drink from an empty cup or many other such analogies that all indicate the need to be kind and giving to ourselves first, so that we can be of maximum benefit to others, and yet we reserve these terms for “emergency life happenings” instead of making them a norm in our daily lives

Self-Wish

I recently heard the term Selfish re-phrased as Self-Wish and that is something that really struck a chord within.  A marvellous turnaround of something that has a negative connotation to something that sits in the positive realms.  A wish for self that we have the power to make a reality, and even if we just say the word, we can feel the power in it.  Wishes are always for the betterment of self, something that we yearn for, that we feel will make a difference to our lives.

The Art of Practicing

So how do we put this into practice.  Again, the aged sayings – Baby Steps.  If we are going to make something work for us, we need to make it a regular habit and practice.  Taking baby steps will ensure that we don’t overdo the process and make it a mission rather than a mending.  Small bits of luxury and self-care go a long way towards making up the new patterns we can form going forward, and can start with a just a short interlude in the most appropriate time of our day / night by doing something that makes us happy wherever we can slot it in.  Starting with a half-hour here or there to read a book, take a luxurious bath, listen to an inspiring podcast or whatever your find invigorating to yourself, can make the world of difference.

Go on try it.  You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels