5 Alternative Thoughts on Self-Care

Great post and something I need to do more of.

Thank you Caz for introducing me to Kate and I did sign up, Everything you wrote is such great advise, I used to compare myself to others and that always made me feel less than, I used to not feel good enough, smart enough, whatever enough, and I held on to that for years. It wasn’t until I had a spiritual awakening that I slowly started to realize that I’m me, on my own journey and comparing myself to others only kept me from moving forward on my journey. And now I “write my own rules” and carve my own path. Very insightful blog post. thank you

Wonderful advice Caz. I can relate to all of these. Life is a big school opf learning.

Great advice, Caz. Just what I needed right now 🙂

Really great post with some great reminders. I love the one about not comparing yourself. It’s so true and a trap that most of us fall into; which simply isn’t fair to ourselves. Over the past few years, I am finally setting boundaries for myself and with others. We’re inclined to think that makes us not nice, but the reality is that we need to take care of ourselves first, before we can take care of anyone else. Love this post, Caz! Brilliant!

Excellent advice, Caz. ????

I always think I’m quite good at self-care but I often read these posts and I always get a reminder that I can do more. I talk about points 2 and 3 in my blog quite a lot. They’ve not been easy to learn to do but time has been a big helper here. That, and getting older makes you learn to put more things in to perspective. Points 1 and 4 though are things I need to work on. No one else knows your pain or illness like you do, and you should never feel guilty about anything when it’s out of your control. Great post Caz xx

Such an incredible post Caz. I agree with you wholeheartedly. The comparison game is definitely the most pervasive epidemic society has going for it now. It’s not that we didn’t play the comparison game before. It just wasn’t as ‘in your face’ all the time. Filters and staged moments photos, along with carefully planned blog posts make people feel like they just aren’t measuring up. What I love was your statement: “When we compare, we’re comparing assumptions and perceptions. But things aren’t always as they seem because people only show you want they want you to see.” Amen Caz, you nailed it! No one could have said it better.

Pulling away from ‘the game’ to regain some reality can be incredibly healing for the soul. We often become desensitized from our exposures to this phoniness – not even realizing the toll it’s taking on our mental health.

I also love your points on self-care and self-forgiveness. Letting go of guilt and condemnation, that feeling of not being enough. That’s a tough one for me, as it is for so many. The dark road it leads to though will take you on a trip from hell. Once we allow those negative thoughts in, it can be hard to get back to right thinking. Being more aware of when we are being too hard on ourselves, comparing ourselves or simply not appreciating who we are – keeps the depression and anxiety from gripping us in the first place.

Keep being you, Caz. You’re an inspiration and a joy. ♥

Self care is so important. It makes us happier more balanced humans. I feel that you can’t take care of other people if you don’t take care of yourself first. As far as rules go, I try not to follow any. 🙂 xo

Great list Caz of alternative things to remember and consider when it comes to our self care and our general approach to ourselves. Thanks for the reminders and assurances that our differences are still okay even if we do t have what we thought we would have by a certain age. This stood out to me as another birthday has just passed me by.
Helen xx

I love the way that you have not focussed on the ‘traditional’ self-care acts and instead thought about it from a self-love and acceptance point of view. I am definitely a person who needs to be able to be a bit more assertive – or at least think that I am not wrong for being so! Fantastic post Caz xx

These are great tips, especially because the ‘selfcare industry’ has become so commercialized, and so many options encourage you to spend money – buy a book, join a yoga studio, have a facial, etc etc. Really, inner selfcare is the most important part – and so is TIME.

Loved this! I wrote a longer response to the last post I saw on the list so I will just address something I and others in my area have been through. I totally agree with you though, regardless of the situation. In my area, bullying is a big-time activity where others think it is ok to bully you whether you are a young and inexperienced child of virtually any age, or a seasoned senior who has lived through a lot of things. It can be about having braces if you are a young child, or it can be about seniors who are getting their Norco from drug dealers in your senior mobile home park. I know we have had a lot of suicides here of children barely in their teens getting bullied over wearing braces or glasses, or perhaps it is the type of clothing they are wearing or the way their hair is cut. And the seniors get quite riled up as many are already addicted to Norco and they cannot bear to be without it. The dealers probably make more money selling Norco than they do cocaine or similar drugs.

So bullying is another aspect you may have to face if you have a physical challenge or one that is developmental or perhaps emotional. All of these are valid. I have permanent PTSD from being assaulted in my old senior mobile home park. It was a terrifying and majorly depressing thing because I was up against so many other seniors, and I cannot to this day believe how absolutely vindictive they can be if you get in their way of getting what they want. I have one of my degrees, Criminal Justice, most recently earned in 2016 when I had the cancer. So I had been trying to get it stopped in my park, not realizing how many other seemingly innocent people were involved. They tried two other times to assault me too, so it was extremely stressful, and I am certain I could have handled it better had I realized the full picture. The people living right next to me had committed trafficking of 13-year-old girls, and making and selling of meth, cocaine, and Norco. Although I managed to get some arrests, California has the worst record with felons, having released approx. 30,000 of them several times who had supposedly never done any violent activities during the performing of their crimes.

The law is very complex and we don’t always get the full picture of what that means in the courts. So things happen that if I were to sit in a judge’s place, would result in a sentence where there was none that would hold up. It’s easy to say, but the reality is that a person can be guilty of a lot of violent acts and not be caught for that, especially if those who are the victims are reluctant to speak up.

Well, this is another area where we do need to be our own advocates and also to be assertive if our rights are being abused. I have read somewhere that Native American Women (US and Canada) have one of the highest numbers of assaults, tortures and murders, and people with disabilities are next. Special Needs Children are not figured in the statistics because they are grouped together with ALL the children who are assaulted, raped, tortured and murdered. So this is against them before anything even happens. And what about the homeless? If any people in this U.S. are invisible, it is the homeless people. If one of them is found dead, if they cannot be readily identified from the typical means of so doing, they are just put into the morgue with a lot of other unidentified, and then they are all cremated together when there are enough of them, much the same way animals are put down when no one comes to claim or adopt them.

What is said about trying to be your own advocate and to also do self-protective measures is important for all of us. I think this issue is bigger than ever before and something we all need to consider when we think of being our own advocates. We are all here on the earth because our lives are sacred; if we were not meant to be here, we would not be. As such, we are ALL, regardless of any other issues, meant to be part of the world, and of the universe. Do stand up for yourself even if you are an army of one. It is more important than you can imagine. For every one of you who stand up for yourself no matter what, you may be helping to save the life or lives of others in this world. We have no way of knowing, but if you have stood up for yourself, you will inspire someone else to do the same. Thank you for your excellent article. I know that this seems off topic, but it really is not.

This is great advice! I think we’re all a little too hard on ourselves sometimes. Something I’ve been trying to learn lately is to be more assertive and focus on my own needs.

Caz, have I told you lately how much I love this?