Remember to be good to yourself, too

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/10/2020 (965 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the global pandemic wears on, there’s been a lot of talk about self-care. Everywhere you look on the internet there’s advice for how to eat healthier or the best way to exercise at home.

But what I want to talk about is the kind of self-care that doesn’t require a great deal of planning or scheduling. It doesn’t involve excessive research into the best way to do this or that, and it certainly doesn’t require having the self-discipline to get up at 5:30 a.m. to exercise, meditate and then prepare a healthy meal plan for the rest of the day.

It’s just about being kind to yourself.

It’s one of the simplest forms of self-care, but also one that is often overlooked. It’s recognizing that sometimes just getting out of bed in the morning is a victory and worthy of celebration. It’s taking a moment to smile (or better yet, have a good laugh) at the absurdity of the moment when the first from-scratch meal you made in weeks accidentally becomes the cat’s dinner.

(Or in my case, like the time I left a plate of food on the couch when I went to retrieve a drink from the fridge. Instead of eating it, my cat used the plate like a trampoline, sending food particles scattered everywhere!)

It’s one of those funny things about life that while many of us understand the importance of being kind to others, we forget that we owe ourselves the same courtesy.

So next time you are feeling less-than-perfect, remember to take a deep breath and cut yourself some slack.

A little kindness can go a long way — even when it’s directed at yourself.

☐ ☐ ☐

I wrote this little ditty in the first few weeks of the pandemic. Doing so became my own little version of self-care. Enjoy:

Superhero

Superhuman strength is great,
And shapeshifting is neat.
Ultra sonic speeds are cool,
Spidey senses are a treat.

But I don’t need a fancy cape:
Yellow, red or blue.
’Cause when I wear (a/my) face mask,
I’m a superhero, too!

Heather Innis is a community correspondent for Windsor Park. You can contact her at htiede@gmail.com

Heather Innis
Windsor Park community correspondent

Heather Innis is a community correspondent for Windsor Park.

   Read full biography