Self care. It’s a trendy phrase nowadays, but I boil it down to this- what do I do to make sure that I’m a fully-functioning mom, wife, attorney, friend, human being? How do I take time to rejuvenate myself?
Sure, I get a massage occasionally (very occasionally, like once every year and a half,) and I read books for pleasure, and I meal plan. Those things are all enjoyable for me and make my life better. But today I want to talk about my three favorite things that I do to take care of myself, which happen to be three things that I do, day after day, week after week, without fail.
I exercise. For the last several years, my workout of choice has been high intensity interval training (HIIT) classes at FLEXcity Fitness. I love feeling the sweat drip (ok, POUR) down my face and pushing my comfortable speed on the treadmill beyond what I thought I could do. The weather is finally getting warm enough that I will run outside once or twice a week, and I try to fit in a yoga class once a month (seriously, it’s all I can work into my schedule), but I am at Flex at least four times a week. It is my favorite way to start my day at 6am.
I get my nails done. As an estate planning attorney, I present documents to my clients for a living. Several years ago I decided that it was important to me to present a professional, polished image, and that an easy way for me to look the part was to have my nails looking good. Mark and I have actually been able to work my nail salon trips into our household budget, because it is relatively low-cost and my self esteem skyrockets when I walk out of Kiss Nails every week or ten days.
I clean the kitchen every night. Sometime between dinnertime and bedtime, I put dirty dishes into the dishwasher, put away the extra stuff that has gathered on the countertop throughout the day, take out the recycling, and wipe down counters and stovetops. This generally takes about ten minutes. It gives me such peace of mind to go to bed with a clean kitchen and know that when I wake up at 5:15 and stumble downstairs to make myself a pre-gym cup of coffee (one of my favorite rituals), I’m not going to be met with chaos.
What are the little or big things that you do to make your life easier, better, richer? Do you get a latte once a week (I do)? Do you buy new shoes (I don’t)? Do you have a special essential oil-spiked kitchen spray that you use every night (yessssss)?
