A Self-care Guide for the People Who Don’t Realize

If you’re wound up, stressed out, fighting with yourself and everyone else on top of life itself, here are some declarations of my love for you that might help.

You deserve a good night’s sleep.

That’s eight hours or whatever makes you feel alert and ready for whatever the world is about to throw at you next. Whoever taught you that you don’t need or deserve a full night’s sleep meant well, but they had problems of their own. Forgive, move on, sleep well. (Every night.)

You deserve hydration.

Coffee is fantastic. So is wine. But three days into those being your primary liquids you’re going to feel irritable and unwell when really, you just need water. Quit with the hamster wheel of uppers and downers. Start and end each day with a full glass, and enjoy some in between.

You deserve exercise.

Hiking, going to the gym, doing yoga or trying a dance class may initially make you feel like you’re dying. But ask your lymphatic system: you were designed to move. Exercise is a natural remedy for stress, anxiety and depression, and it makes you live longer and better. Prioritize it.

You deserve nutrition.

To be clear: I want onion rings, now and usually. I also know they’re no substitute for love or safety or whatever it is I’m really craving. Check in on why you’re not giving your body the fuel it needs to keep you running smoothly. In a world of cuisines to try, find your healthy and happy.

You deserve pointless activities that you nonetheless enjoy.

Your time is finite and valuable. Workaholism is for suckers and family gets every holiday. So indulge in the weird passions that people don’t understand and/or expected you to give up. When it comes to this stuff, you’re literally the only one who has to get it and have a good time.

You deserve good company when you want it.

Whether you are in a good mood, bad mood, great place, terrible place, feel like a million bucks or fear your life is a cautionary tale, you have family that loves you and friends who could enjoy waiting with you for a tow truck. Listen to that little voice whispering, “Lonely.” Send the text.

You deserve peace when you need it.

There is a version of you that’s effortlessly wise, kind, patient, reflective, calm and open. You cannot access that self without respite. The world will keep turning. All the blaring channels and your problematic cousin will be right where you left them. So log off. Find stillness. Do nothing. Rest.