There's no such thing as doing too much for yourself, and while it is important to look after the people around you, it’s even more important to charge, and re-charge, yourself with love and care.
When you start looking after yourself, your body, mind, and soul will each reflect that loving tranquility you’re fueling yourself with. A truly beautiful person is someone who glows with self-love and self-care. Here’s what we’ve found to be the best methods for flowing with love and care.
Step 1: Take a Break and Take a Look
The first step for achieving something meaningful is to stop everything you’re doing. Unfortunately, we pick up many unhealthy habits along the road and the rapid speed of life makes it difficult to alter our set ways. That’s why it’s best to stop everything you’re doing, give yourself time to breathe, ground yourself and relax, and then reflect on the choices you’ve made and where there is room for health improvement. When we slow everything down, we realize that going through the speed of life didn’t save us much time, and in actuality, we lose time to all that stress and anxiety.
According to the incredible James Baldwin, “To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the making of bread.”
If you want long-lasting care, learn to slow things down a bit so you can gain a clear perspective of yourself and the world around you. Once you’ve grounded yourself, you can then reflect on all of your strengths, the characteristics that make you truly unique, how powerful you are as an individual and the abilities you have for improving your life, which will spill over to those around you. When you’re centered in yourself, challenges will no longer feel so overwhelming. Whether you have new obstacles in your personal life, remember what shows on the inside will eventually reflect on the outside. This includes, your locs, your skin, your attitude and more. So just know you have the power to control this, and you are sometimes your only solution.
Step 2: Treat Yourself With Abundance
After affirming all of your capabilities and self-reliant empowerment, you should absolutely treat yourself as you would a king or queen. If you work really hard, then don’t cut yourself off from reaping the benefits. This can be a challenge if you’re a mother with little ones or a spouse or single individual with a demanding schedule trying to provide for your litte ones or self, but remember you can’t give water from an empty well, so try to be well for yourself first. Think in terms of abundance. Take a long relaxing bath with all your favorite essential oils, go for that 30-minute foot massage or the hot oil treatment your locs love so much. It’s no secret that time is more valuable than money, and we don’t need to spend our money to feel good. Taking a long morning walk, going for a swim, a run, making or baking a nice meal for yourself, or sipping a chai or steaming tea in peace and quiet may be all you need to set yourself to a joyful rhythm to enjoy the life you have, with all the challenges and gifts that come your way.
Step 3: Find a Hobby or Passion You Love
So easily we fall into the routine of doing things that leave us boring our unfulfilled. For example, you’re at the grocery store, and the cashier is extremely friendly, asking you what you’re making for dinner, and what’s your favorite recipe, etc. You notice their joy and it makes you smile, like “this person has great customer service, they must really love their job.” Then the next day you return you get a new cashier from the same store, but this person, doesn’t talk, their constantly looking at their phone and they are READY TO GO! You feel their energy and you say,” Wow, what a difference!”
We are aware that people have bad days, but doing what you love could have a major impact on how you proceed in life. Each day we rise, we have an opportunity to make a difference, love on our ourselves, and others, and plant a seed toward something bigger. By finding the thing that drives you, it could help you reach your goals much quicker and leads you to a fulfilled and purposeful life. So go find that passion, love it, and go wild!
Takeaway
No one is you, and that your superpower! Only you know what's best for you. At Dr Locs, we know that you have the strength and power to fuel yourself with love and care. This is not something you can just strike a line through on your check-list, but something that takes effort, not just daily, but hourly, minute to minute. Never stop treating yourself with love and care, in the end, everyone benefits when you treat yourself right.
