Practice Self-Care and Give Yourself Grace

 

1:22 The Importance of Making Self-Care a Priority

18:00 Giving Yourself Grace with Ashley LeMieux

44:15 Challenge to Act the Way You Want to Feel

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The Importance of Making Self-Care a Priority

The moment I became a momma, everything changed.

My first son, Carter, was born in January of 2015, and he instantly became my entire world. This tiny human consumed my every thought, concern and desire. It was beautiful and awesome, but it was also really hard.

Now, I’d gone through many hard seasons before this one. I’ve walked through seasons where I worked 80 hours a week, lost all my friends, and didn’t have much of a life outside of work.

But, for whatever reason, there’s nothing quite like that feeling of losing yourself when children come into the picture. Not only do they instantly become the center of your universe, but they also just need you a lot.

And that’s exactly what happened to me. I lost myself when I first became a mother. I no longer felt like Christy. I no longer felt like the young, independent, fun person I’d always known myself to be. I had so many interests—and I still do—but I wasn’t doing any of those things because taking care of Carter consumed my world.

Related: Find Your True Self and Get Back to You

I know many of you have probably experienced this as well. You begin to create habits and grooves where all you think about is your kids. That was definitely me, even more so when Conley came into the picture a very short time later.

I got into a habit of identifying myself as Carter and Conley’s mom. That was my first point of identification. Now, I love being their mother. It’s the greatest joy of my life. But it’s not the only part of me.

I quickly realized that, in keeping up with the day-to-day demands of my job, my children and my household, the first thing to go was me. The first things to go out the window were my interests and anything that brought me joy and rest (outside of my family).

This was the first time in my life that I experienced this kind of guilt. Anything I wanted to do for myself felt selfish in the grand scheme of being a mom, so I wasn’t taking care of myself.

Related: Getting Rid of the Guilt

Doesn’t this happen to so many of us? We forget about the things that make us feel like us: exercise, shopping, pedicures, time with girlfriends or time alone. Those things become luxuries we’ll indulge in only if there’s time leftover.

And you and I both know there is never time leftover.

There will always be something more demanding of your time, attention and energy until you put yourself at the top of your priority list.

Self-Care Is Your Responsibility

If you feel rushed, run down, busy, burned out, grumpy or resentf