With everything going on lately, I haven’t worked on new blog posts for a bit. However, I’ve been collecting some links to share with you – enjoy!
If you’re feeling off and out of control of your own destiny, it’s not a bad idea to check in with yourself, especially with your intuition. I really connected with the second point on this, which is to talk to yourself like a friend. That idea is really what has turned things around for me self-love and -care wise. You have GOT to practice self-care. It’s not optional – it’s something you have to make time for and do. One big reason? It helps us handle stress better.
Something else that’s helped me a lot is learning to say no. It’s hard to break the habit of wanting to please people. As someone who grew up in a home where you didn’t want to upset someone, I find it’s even harder than I ever thought it would be. It’s definitely something I’m working and making progress on though, which eliminates a large amount of self-loathing and doubt as well. Saying no takes a lot of courage. We should always remember that.
Recognizing abusive tendencies is hugely important, and is taking the time to learn about and find yourself once you’re out. Self-discovery happens at different times for everyone – I’m just glad I got to it before I hit 27! Healing from abuse is hard work, but it’s so incredibly rewarding. Also, as a reminder to myself, it’s never okay to deny the emotions you’re feeling. That doesn’t mean you have to act on them though. Something that’s important to do is to identify emotional triggers so that you can work on handling them.
Learning to let things go is a huge step we all must take. It’s not easy to do unless you learn to say no and love yourself though. It’s very easy to make excuses to stay in a difficult place or in contact with abusive people. There’s often peer pressure associated with these things, which doesn’t make it any easier.
I really enjoy reading things that other people would tell their younger selves. This one is focused on a person in their 20s, so pretty relevant for me right now.
The last point in this article hit me hard – be a rebel with a cause. You don’t have to follow what others are doing, and you can still make an impact by being unique. Don’t compare yourself to others either. Something that might help is to make a fuck it list (yep, you read that right).
A few weeks ago, I talked about loving kindness meditation and how it helps me. If you’re working on the same practice, here are some other intentions you can use in addition to ‘may you be well’ and the like. On that note, I’ve spoken a lot about Buddhism as of late. It’s something that comforts me and gives me tangible goals to work towards, not unlike the author of this piece. If you’re interested in learning more, you can always ease into it by learning about meditation terms or short five minute introductions. You can also investigate mindfulness on a very basic level and see what you think.
Even if you’re not into Buddhism, there are still ideas you can take from it to enrich your life. A few are included in this piece on mindfulness in relationships. It can even help us to think about our final breath. Keep in mind that meditation isn’t always easy to get into or a calming experience.
If you keep debating a choice, read this piece. Make an educated decision – but make sure to make your decision. Oftentimes it seems as though we get wish-washy and refuse to make a choice, even if it’s incredibly important. Sometimes the problem is that we start living on autopilot, isn’t it? Here’s a list of ways to stop that.
Spending time with my sister recently was so very much needed, especially with Sam still struggling. It also gave me some time to travel by myself, which is always an adventure. I’m starting to love things like driving in downtown San Francisco without my GPS on to see what I can see. I’m finding comfort even out of my element, and I love it.
If you’re having a really hard day, remember to be grateful, to let go, and to listen. You can always try some things to restart the day too, or remember that you can allow yourself to be imperfect. It all goes back to the beginning of this post – you have to learn to be your best friend so you can care for yourself better.
Side note: The Elephant Journal site limits you to three (3) free articles per day, so you may need to bookmark some to read in the coming days.