Honor Yourself

Good morning ladies! This week's post was inspired by three different conversations I had this past week. This, I'm sure, is going to hit home for many of you, and it's something I felt led to discuss. So let's jump right in!

Many of us are trained to be doers and go-getters, that we never really stopped to assess ourselves 👀. It's a mindset and traditional mishap I personally have decided to let go of. I never want to be committed to doing and hustling so much so, that I forget about myself my wants/needs/self-care in the process. And so many of us women go day in and day out, running ourselves into the ground because of our upbringing and the beliefs that we've adapted from our culture. Imma give y'all a minute to digest that.

Minute's up! 🤪

1. How many of you actually take the time out while even on the job, to assess what you need?

Working as a registered nurse in the acute care setting as a floor nurse, it is so easy to get caught up catering to my patients, and tending to their every need and forget about my own. A LOT of nurses share the same sentiment of not having the time to do a liquid exchange I just heard my fav coach Patrice say that the other day lol. It's something that we don't event think twice about, we just accept it. And we all know that there are detrimental effects of not allowing our bodies to process naturally.

2. How about those of us who want to do everything, and then some, in just one day?

Girl listen, I had this convo with a good girlfriend of mine just yesterday and I empathized with her because I also did this a lot, and sometimes still do! I would want to get my nails done, butcher my brows, physically buy groceries, do four loads of laundry, cook, AND read three chapters of a book in one day. And then have the nerve to be miserable when I was tired; when in actuality it was supposed to be a chill day.

The truth is, that sometimes, we aren't prioritizing our tasks well enough to implement them properly. Or, we overestimate the amount of time we have to get them done. It can even be as simple as seeing rest and slowing down, as being lazy, or wasting time. There are an avalanche of reasons why we sometimes get caught up into this frenzy. PAUSE ... This discussion was not meant to beat you up; but to stir up some thoughts and encourage you to honor yourself. Sis, you are only one person. It's okay to scale back and have only one thing on your to-do list.

So in this season that I feel led to scale back, to stress less, and to engage in what piques my joy, I want to encourage you with these prompts/phrases that came up for me when I started flushing out this post:

• Give yourself the space and grace to BE (NOT do - BE still/quiet/in the moment/chill/in tune with your feelings)

• Don’t beat yourself up when you can’t DO (it's okay to not be superwoman)

• Pause and rest OR take a short break (whoever said sleep when you're dead, LIED! Get some rest sweetie)

• STOP trying to do it all - FOCUS on ONE THING at a time

• Make smart realistic goals (put a time stamp on it AND include time in between the tasks for yourself ie. liquid exchange, drinking water, nap-time so underrated by the way)

Remember my love, you're only ONE, singular person. You cannot do it all (I mean you can given the right resources, space, and time - that's anotha convo for anotha day). Honoring yourself, means that you are your main priority, 100% of the time. It also means that you need to immerse yourself in communities and spaces that facilitate you. Your immediate circles (family, friends, clients, coworkers) should understand when you cannot honor them because those days will come. Understanding plays a huge part in healthy relationships, and are apparent when honoring you.

Honor yourself, and find time to incorporate YOU into your plans.