When you click on a Facebook post and are utterly surprised and delighted by what you read, isn’t it like a gift, a random cyber gift of kindness? That’s how I found this essay. I got swept away with how it melds so many simple pleasures of self-care into one day for yourself.
But for the "All Or Nothing Thinkers" out there, this is your challenge. Just picture yourself doing each or any of these little descriptive task. Would it comfort you? Would it refresh you? How could any one of these be added to any day just because you can choose that it be so. Surround yourself with what heightens pleasure and let go of matter of fact clutter.
Let self-care become a part of every day when each choice comes in the present moment created with imagination and attention to your senses. Enjoy - You're worth it.
“Push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. Go to the nearest hill with a big coat, your favorite blanket and a scarf and watch the sun rise.
Push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable. Lie in your garden, feel the sunshine on your skin.
Get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. Fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. Sit and eat it and do nothing else.
Stretch. Start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. Stretch your fingers. Stretch everything.
Buy a water bottle. Push yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.
Buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. Write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. No detail is too small.
Strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear into the washing machine. wash, then hang them in the sunshine with care. Make your bed in full.
Dig your fingers into the earth, plant a seed. See your success as it grows everyday.
Organize your room. Fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. Light your favorite candle.
Breath. Practice your deep breathing. Ground yourself.
Have a luxurious shower with your favorite music playing. Wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. Lather your whole body in moisturizer, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck. Wash the day’s stress away.
Push yourself to go for a walk. Take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. Smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. Bring your dog and observe the dog’s behavior. Realize you can learn from your dog.
Message old friends with personal jokes. Reminisce. Suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. Push yourself to follow through.
Think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? Find a book about it and read it. There is a book about literally everything.
Become the person you would ideally fall in love with. Let cars merge into your lane when driving. Pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. Stick your tongue out at babies. Help an animal. Compliment people on their cute clothes. Challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day-then two, then a week. Walk with a straight posture. Look people in the eye. Ask people about their story. Talk to acquaintances so they become friends.
Lie in the sunshine. Daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. Open your eyes.
Take small steps to make it happen for you...”