Be good to yourself
“Be good to yourself…. when nobody else will….” A song from the good ole 80’s - yet the lyrics from the Journey song still ring true today - maybe even truer in today’s world where busyness and information overload are the norm and it’s harder and harder to make the time for the most important thing…. YOU.
You do realize our minds were never meant to process the amount of information that flows to us on a daily basis….
Being good to yourself is a reminder to make time for YOU. A reminder to slow down - to reflect, ponder, and seek…. And WHY…. you ask? It furthers our soul development, helps us understand our actions and interactions with others, and because the more we know ourselves, the better equipped we are to roll with the ebb and flow of life and the more we can show up in our truest form.
You might say, “Who has time for self - I’ve got too much on my plate - I’ve got a family…. a job…or whatever you want to insert there that validates why you are not taking time for yourself - and hello, have you SEEN all thats going on in the world? Self…. ha. Someday I’ll have time for myself.”
Don’t be fooled - it’s a lie my friend. We make time for what is important, and there is no one more important than YOU. Actually, taking time for yourself has never been more important. Remember the airline stewardess telling you to put on YOUR oxygen mask first because you can’t help anyone else until you first help yourself - this is where it begins - the realization that it’s ok and a choice to value yourself enough to take the much needed time to focus on … well…. you - amazing you!
So where does all this self-reflection and love mojo come from? Like most of the world, the challenges that began with the pandemic set everyone into a whirlwind and what we ended up with was a new chance… a divine chance for change. A chance to slow down, to breathe & evaluate.
A chance to change what we don’t like about anything in our lives. Most people during this timeframe evaluated and made life changes… Asking questions like do I like my job? My relationships? Who am I and what are my desires? Am I following my dreams or just existing? Have I been so caught up in busyness and existing that I don’t even know myself enough to live in my own truth? Ouch.
Where did YOU end up is the question? Have you taken the time to slow down enough to reflect? What do you like? What beliefs do you hold? What’s important to you? How are your relationships and what boundaries do you have or need to have in your life? Where do you need to grow? What does discovering more about your true self look like?
WHO is ______________ (insert your name) then sit still with the question - kind of funny I know, to ask who you are, but just sit with it - maybe even consider writing down a few things that are truly YOU.
This is something only YOU know about yourself. Be honest. Being good to yourself is discovering who you are at the core and this is not about job titles or roles in life - this is YOU in your truest essence. Strip off everything the world has placed on you thus far - this is about discovering the higher self YOU. The divine YOU. This is about remembering WHO you really are. You are a divine spiritual being having this amazing human experience - it’s time to dig in and bring out that creative, child-like, fun loving best version of you - or at least start to be more aware of what’s truly inside you.
Tip: You are everything and nothing. One would say you are one little star in the universe…. yet you ARE ONE STAR…. IN THE UNIVERSE. It’s time for that light to shine dear one. It’s time for joy to resurface. What do you have to offer the world to make it a better place? You are here in this time & space for a reason.
There’s a storyline from a cartoon Horton Hears a Who… whose motto is even though you can’t see them or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small and while I haven’t seen the actual movie, someone told me that the tipping point is ONE VOICE deciding to add their voice to the collective and that one little voice made all the difference. What if you are the ONE voice that the universe needs?
To get answers, we MUST slow down and do some soul searching. We must seek in order to find. We must go inside. We must look at everything through the eyes of love, which allows for compassion, forgiveness and loss of all judgements - this is about the personal growth of you. We must knock so the door can be opened - otherwise we are just allowing life to happen with no control. The world is changing no doubt - it’s time to change how we think.
The beautiful thing is there is nothing wrong with you and you are indeed exactly where you are supposed to be. If this makes no sense to you - it’s ok. Come back when it does.
If however, you feel the tug that there is something more - something deeper than you have ever known…. There IS but remember - there’s work to do and you must find it. Being good to yourself includes making the time… the time to sit still … to seek… to dig…. to ask and ponder everything…. all beliefs that you have held up until this point. It’s powerful to look at our weakness as well as our strengths and be honest about both. Be kind to yourself, and in this process, please withhold judgements of self and others. (We all know it’s easier to blame others for anything not good in our lives, but reality is we are all responsible for ourselves.)
I have a friend who was praying to God for help…. which we often do… give God a to-do list with all our needs so we can have divine help and not have to do the work ourselves - Note: divine help is always within us - but did you ever think of listening to what the divine might say TO you ….
For this friend, the intuitive insight was given through a picture - he was standing on a beach, surrounded by sand, a shovel and pail. When asking for God to please help - God replied, “You have everything you need - there’s a pail & shovel right in front of you within reach… use what has been given - aka…..do the work”
Beautiful right! Could God do miracles? Absolutely - but I believe we are meant to stretch & grow….. and the shovel just might be within your reach as well.
Consider what you are asking for, and that you just might need to look within - knowing everything that we need is already here.
So why NOW? You can feel it, I know. The world is calling for it - the world needs more light and its time to add our voice. Now is the time for evaluation of SELF - a wake up call as to what is truly important to YOU and an opportunity for you to change anything that is no longer fitting. An opportunity to figure out and step into your life calling no matter what age you might be. You are not a victim of past. You always have a choice. Knowledge & learning are at your fingertips. Will you grab the shovel and do the work?
Self love is not just about being creative, pampering yourself or doing something you love - those can all be an important part of it - but true self love is discovering yourself at the core and creating a life you love & live unapologetically.
Stillness is required - being still & quiet enough to remove all the brain chatter is a start…. not until then will this make sense - and being real here, it’s a bit hard to disconnect and sit in the stillness because we are so used to noise, stuff, instant everything - your mind will fight you, but stick with it - when you put in the work, yes imagine that - it’s work to be still - that alone is pretty funny and shows our humanness - but every time you pick up that “shovel” it will get easier.
Sounds great G…. but where do I begin? It’s a process and there are many ways to get there - but let’s just start here.
Make time to unplug daily. Mornings seem to work the best. Unplugging gives the body & brain a big sigh of relief. Unplugging means ditching the electronic devices and social media - even if it’s for small increments to start. Sit in the calm and start the day with clarity. (Remember - yes, we are human and will still have monkey mind where our thoughts run wild and distract us - but thats the start of the process - awareness - when our mind wanders off, and it will - try to bring it back to stillness - the best way to do this is start with gratitude any time you find yourself wandering - it helps bring back into balance the heart/mind connection.
Gratitude. Think of the things you ARE grateful for instead of what’s wrong.
Being in Nature is healing.
Try a Guided Meditation.
Educate yourself - grab a book, listen to a podcast, watch a video of an interesting, new topic.
Listen to music that’s uplifting or makes you feel happy - experiment with Vibrations. There’s a lot more to talk about with vibrations & frequencies and what it can do for the body.
Tapping - no this is not with actual tap shoes, although I do love a great tap dance. This kind of tapping is a method that combines tapping on acupuncture points while focusing on feelings in order to help release stress & negative emotions while calming & helping regulate the central nervous system.
Pray | Converse with God, the creator, divine - however you want to word it.
Play - be creative. Try something you’ve always wanted to try. Take yourself on a creative date.
Listen to what your inner voice is saying. There’s no right or wrong way to start becoming more aware and conscious of what lights up your soul.
This is a lot to take in - remember it’s a process and can’t be summed up in one quick answer… again it goes back to seeking….. be a seeker of truth… a seeker of self… a seeker of love and light and you will be on your way to discovering more about your truest self…. don’t worry about changing anything yet, simply start somewhere.
We will be talking a lot more about these type subjects, so stay tuned if you’d like for more to come and in the mean time….
“Be good to yourself when nobody else will”…. because you are truly amazing.
Lets close with this fitting quote “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it…. including you.” Anne Lamott
