Did you know that engaging in a supportive self-care routine leads to a happier life? Self-care isn’t a luxury, but it can provide longevity to your life and increase joy. Why? Because self-care routines help fight stress and exhaustion while improving your health and happiness levels.
Stress, Energy & Outlook
Life can be stressful, even exhausting, at times. If you are working long hours, not resting properly or getting proper nutrition, you are more likely to feel blah. When you feel blah, you tend to stop prioritizing your self-care. Instead, you do the minimum that needs to be done. And if this plays out far enough, you may feel anger, and resentment, and teeter into burnout as everyone demands your time and attention, leaving you with nothing for yourself.
Let’s face it, we all have moments where we feel like we are too busy dealing with everyone else’s needs at the cost of ourselves. Typically these moments pass. However, if you never make time for yourself, you may start to resent your friends and loved ones. It isn’t that they are constantly demanding your time, but your perception has changed negatively.
You see, not only does self-care help combat stress, it improves your energy levels and positive outlook. When you feel more energetic, you can do more things with more people. And when you do more things with more people, you can see new opportunities arise. So, naturally, you’re less likely to feel as if everything is awful.
Redefining Daily Care Tasks
For some people, when they are overly stressed or suffering from burnout, their daily care tasks suffer. This is especially true for anyone experiencing depression. Why? Because when we are feeling depressed, daily self-care tasks can seem impossible. Some people will not have the energy or will to get out of bed. In worst-case scenarios, a person could spend days or weeks in bed, neglecting basic daily tasks such as bathing or brushing their teeth.
There are side effects to neglecting these basic personal hygiene tasks. These include dental health issues, skin problems, etc. On top of these issues, most people report feeling worse about themselves when they neglect their appearance, which leads to greater depressive episodes. So you see, managing self-care is also essential for mental health and hygiene.
What is Indulging & After Effects
It’s not uncommon to feel the urge to fill a hole when we let our self-care slide. We want a quick way to feel better and escape the demands of our lives. But, unfortunately, this looks like seeking comfort and escape through junk food, alcohol, or other substances for some people.
When we start to rely on unhealthy habits as a form of comfort, it may lead to additional health issues down the road. In some instances, these issues are severe. Alcohol, in particular, is a depressant. While it may provide us with a temporary means of escape, we are likely to feel more unhappy and in greater need of an escape once it becomes a habit.
When it comes to junk food, we load up on empty calories because it tastes good and provides us with temporary joy. However, when junk food becomes a daily habit or meal substitution, we may be setting ourselves up for hypertension, diabetes, and other health issues.
When we are too busy to make healthy food, we tell ourselves a quick meal of processed foods is okay, once and a while. But we continue to run out of time, so we continue to consume the empty calories. Sure, they fill up an empty tummy, and they give us temporary energy, but is it worth setting ourselves up for future health issues?
Another side effect of indulging in empty calories is unintended weight gain. Of course, the more weight gained, the worse you may feel about yourself. It seems the heavier we get, the harder it is to lose the extra pounds. Everything seems more complicated with excess weight. Unfortunately, we are less likely to exercise, which is the very thing we need to do to help our bodies feel better.
Believing it is Never Enough
Self-care is something people do because they love themselves. They know that they deserve time and care, so they make time for it.
Often, when people do not love themselves enough to see the value in self-care, they feel as if they are lacking, never measuring up, or just not good enough.
The weight of life’s responsibilities can feel crushing when we don’t care for ourselves. Constantly feeling tired, and never measuring up, can make us feel like failures even though we aren’t.
Life doesn’t have to feel that way, though. When you make time for yourself, you can help ease the stress, erase the exhaustion, and do things that bring you joy.
Access Support Today
When you have true happiness and joy in your life, you are more likely to see the positive in life and have greater wellness. I know this to be true as I’ve seen the changes it has made in my clients’ lives and my own. So why not give it a try? You have nothing to lose and all the happiness and wellness to gain! If you need help, I’m here for you. Let’s connect today, and discover support at your fingertips. From large groups to 1:1 coaching sessions, we offer a variety of online and in-person support groups to help you fight the good fight with chronic illness.