Challenge your self-care routine
By Pratima Jaidev
“Oh God! I had a terrible backache yesterday, was alone at home, not in a position to get up from bed to get myself a hot water bag and relax my strained back muscles,” said Maria while she was having lunch with her office colleagues.
I have heard such similar stories from many successful women across different industries or fields. I started wondering why that was the case? Soon, I realised that though women act as harbingers of change which they make possible by overcoming many complex and challenging situations; when it comes to their self-care, they neglect it completely. Being caught up in the circle of life and overburdened by personal and professional responsibilities they don’t think of or realise the importance of having a self-care routine until something major comes down upon them.
The misconception that majority of the women have are — Caring for themselves is selfishness, what will society think? What will my family think? Instead of all these questions, I think we must ask ourselves — If I fall sick, who will take care of me exactly the way I do with my family? If I spend some time with my friends occasionally how happy will my mood be? If I treat myself to a nice spa or to one my favourite foods, won’t I feel good?
Self-care and Self-love is not just going on a shopping spree or bubble baths. It refers to regular exercising, spending time on hobbies, roping in some alone time to ponder on our thoughts, treating yourself to something that you love eating or doing without having second thoughts about what others might think of you.
Challenging one’s self-care routine is a conscious choice that one has to make and if that choice is made, the inner world of a woman will be much better and so will her outer world be.
No one-size-fits-all so it’s very important that everyone finds their own ways to establish their self-care routine and care for their physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being. So, let’s ‘choose to challenge’ our own self-care routine to face the challenges in our day-to-day life more peacefully as a challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. And, such a change is here to stay for us and all those around us in a positive way.
_________________________________________________________________
Pratima Jaidev is a media professional who decided to make ‘storytelling’ her profession at the age of six. She has gained 18+ years of experience across various industry verticals both in India and in the U.S.
_________________________________________________________________
