Respect yourself and respect others. Be kind to yourself and be kind to others. Be compassionate. Reach a hand out to those who need it. Serve those whom you are called to serve. Raise decent human beings. But don’t compare. Or compete. Or do it all. You do not have to spend precious time or consume precious brain space caring about all the things this world says are important, but aren’t actually.
Maybe self-care is not caring about what everyone else is doing and simply taking a look at what you are doing – and if what you are doing is right, let that be enough.
Maybe the best way to practice self-care is to stop caring about worldly expectations – to stop trying to live up to them all. To stop fretting about all things minor. To stop rushing through your days in a tizzy trying to keep up with everyone else. You don’t have to care about all the things that won’t matter in a day, a year, a hundred years – and there are a lot, right?
Maybe the best way to practice self care is to care less about what’s happening on the outside and pay more attention to what’s happening on the inside. Maybe it’s not manicures and massages. Maybe it’s being still, praying, and listening expectantly for God. Maybe it’s shutting out the noise and simply listening for the only voice that matters.
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This post originally appeared at A Beautifully Burdened Life by Jenny Albers, published with permission.
