The question is....are you fulfilling your purpose? Many of us don't even know our purpose, or we don't think we know. I can guarantee you that your child, your parents, your friends, and your spouse can confirm you are here for a reason. I believe we are all here for love. Whether it is giving love, receiving love, or acting in a love-filled manner, we are meant to live in community with one another and ourselves.
Self-love is an acknowledgment that you are wonderfully and wholly made as an essential piece of the puzzle in this world. Valuing who you are as a person and caring for your body is the ultimate sign of acceptance. But let's be real.....most of us are not there!
As a health coach and a mom, I have found that most of us are so busy taking care of all of those around us that we forget to care for the one person who should be first yourself!
So why do we not care for ourselves? Societal pressure? Expectations of ourselves? Too much responsibility? Or a feeling of low self-worth or self-esteem? Every time I think of this, I want to shout from the mountaintops, "It is not selfish to take care of yourself first! You are worth it!! You have to fill your bucket first before you can pour into others.
I didn't believe I "had time." I thought I had to prove my worth since I stayed home with our kids. ........I wish my almost 50-year-old self could go back and shake some sense into the stupid 20-something I was. It was worth the effort to eat well, get enough rest, not overtrain, and every other silly thing I thought back then because I am important. I spent years punishing my body instead of caring for it out of love. It took my body breaking down on me for me to understand that my current form of self-sabotage was not working.
We can't change our world until we understand one of the following three insights. We change when we know enough, see enough, or hurt enough. I think the one thing missing is the belief that you are worth the effort to love enough.
We often get stuck in the same pattern of behavior. Even in concentrated times of growth, we can fall back into old habits when life gets crazy busy. Self-awareness is essential to understanding how to reverse and unstick yourself. New behaviors and change are like driving in dry dirt. We keep going over and over the new tire tracks to make a new path. Sometimes when the rain comes (outside stress) the new paths are washed away and the only thing left is the ruts from the old path (old behaviors). Be aware of the old patterns of behavior. They did not serve you last time, and they won't serve you well this time. It is time to place systems in your world to redirect yourself. Get back on the new path, and restart the process. You are worth the effort!
Express your feelings, don't repress them. Let go of your trauma and get on a path of healing and growth. It is often messy, and ugly, but the travel through is worth it. Your body keeps the score and it is always listening. When we speak and treat our bodies with love, we create a relationship that lays the foundation for all other relationships in our world.
Love,
Jess