It's not self-indulgence...

We all need a break sometimes.

Really. 

ALL of us.

Even you superheroes in disguise. You know who you are. I see you. 
(ummmmm ... #recoveringsuperwoman)

Put the cape in the closet. At least for a little bit.

With all joking aside, it is so easy to get caught up in the go-go-go, do-do-do, must-not-stop-EVER of life because our society holds it in such high esteem. It's as if us DO-ing something is somehow tied to our self-worth. That somehow if you're not super busy, you get downgraded on the worthiness scale. (*insert my own self-judgement and criticism here* #yeyselfawareness)

"How are you? What's up?"

"OMG, let me tell you about my non-stop day and all the gazillion and one things I have going on..."

I get it. Totally been there. Still catch myself doing it, in fact.

And you know what? It's not all that sexy. I mean, how often do you actually ENJOY hearing about the craziness of someone's day?

It's kind of stressful.

Sure, I'm all for lending a sympathetic ear. Really. I HEAR you. I really do. We all need that support. I would venture to say that listening to others is one of my strengths. And I enjoy doing it. 

But when you actually catch yourself rehashing the craziness of your own life, did you ever stop and listen to YOURSELF? 

Wow. My life is truly crazy right now. This is nuts.

And you know what? YOU are in control of that. YOU get to choose. 

Yes, I get that there are some things you cannot control.

But you can create that space in the day. Even just a little bit. That space to breathe. That space to not do anything. To bask in the glory of no-thing-ness, even if it's just for a few minutes.

That's called self-care, folks. And we all need it. Lots of it. It is our responsibility. And not only to ourselves, but to others as well. If you have run yourself so dry that you can't give anything to yourself, how do you expect to give to others? 

Self-care is not self-indulgence, it is self-respect.

So how are you going to respect yourself today? It looks different for everyone. Maybe it's going for a 20 min run, or taking an hour-long Zumba class, or yoga, or getting lost in a novel for 30 minutes, or winding down with mindless Netflix, or maybe it's as simple as shutting the door to your office and just taking a few deep breaths. Whatever it is, DO IT. Take care of yourself so you can take care of others. Because who else is going to do it for you?

Go be awesome. Take care of yourself. And remember to do what makes you happy.