I caught up with a friend for brunch the other day. Whilst we were talking, I realised how crazy it is when you witness moments of providence, when you get excited in realising that you’ve both been through similar revelations. In this case, we were talking about what it really means to love yourself and to love God. Particularly in the aspect of self-care. This is something we both agreed that we had been focusing on over the past couple of months, though it didn't seem like a priority being a Catholic woman. However, I have finally realised its importance now.
It brought me back to another conversation with a young Catholic woman who was part of the Regnum Christi mission in the Philippines. The topic of discussion was stemmed from a compliment as someone had told her that she looked nice, which she did. (And despite being on a mission trip, she managed to look well-presented but not in an over-the-top sense.) To this, she responded saying, ‘I feel like it’s my job to look nice because how I feel within should be reflected in the way I look.’ She went on to further explain that her love for herself stemmed from her deep love for God.
Initially, I found this to be quite a paradox because in being a Christian, often you are told to love God above all and deny yourself of things/put others before you. So, it was often on repeat in my mind not to indulge myself in getting this or doing that. That I was always okay with less - I never wanted to take more than my share or do too much for myself. I would tell myself, ‘no I don’t need it’, or ‘that can wait for later’, etc.
However, slowly but surely I started to understand her words, how I present myself towards others holistically. I don’t want to sound like a magazine ‘how to’ column- that’s not what I’m going for. But in being able to truly appreciate myself as one created by God- body and soul I’ve made changes in the following areas of my life…
Appearance- wearing nice clothes and putting on a bit of make-up. I struggled with this in the past. I used to think that this was indulging in vanity. However, I realised there’s a difference between dressing to impress others, over feeling proud of how you present yourself.
Diet- eating better, more nutritional food. Let me stress that I still have days when I eat chocolate and other junk food but for the most part, eating more greens and well-balanced meals has made me feel lighter and better on the whole.
Exercising- taking a walk and doing Pilates a couple of times a week has helped me. I actually have an extra boost of energy- and not to mention a more solid sleep!
Downtime- Just sitting down to watch something and catch a break from the hustle and bustle.
Hobby- doing art or making something. Things that I enjoy!
Prayer (of course)- Setting aside time to be with God and offering up my day.
It is only through my own self-care that I understand that loving yourself as God loves you means taking care of yourself and doing what is truly good for you. What I have shared are the things that I have actually found to be beneficial for myself and realised that it is okay to do so, but obviously just not in excess. We need to care for the physical and spiritual aspects of ourselves and appreciate that we are created by Him- the gift of ourselves is something to treasure!
maya.
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