Take care of yourself first

Read the article in Greek here 🙂

In a world that has taught us that taking care of yourself and putting our selves first is selfish, it is very difficult to tip the scales and realize (and then act on) that taking care of your self is indeed, first and foremost, an act of love.

“You can’t pour from an empty bottle”

As our life drains us emotionally and physically it is of course very challenging to stop and take in the fact that as they say “you can’t pour from an empty bottle”. If we are the bottle, we have to constantly fill it up with energy, love and confidence in order to be able to pour to the glasses that are set on the table and may be called family, a job, friends or our partner.

So after talking with a friend about this and also the boundaries one has to set in order to reclaim their balance, I have been reading about self-care and how to invest on yourself and your well-being -apparently there are tons of articles and personal well-being and selfcare is huge right now- and I’m showing you here the ways to take care of yourself I’ve found most interesting and that work for me, too.

Things you can do to start taking care of yourself now

Healthy living – eating healthy is a form of self respect (I admit I read that on Pinterest but ain’t it true?). If you appreciate your body, you feed it with nourishing and healthy stuff and you exercise – it will pay the love back by giving you a feeling of wellness, strength and happiness hormones.

Plan your dreams – Don’t waste time daydreaming without taking actual steps towards materialising these dreams of yours. Is it career? Family? A trip you have always dreamt of? Start doing, not just wishing!

Develop a skill – Nothing makes us more motivated than the will to learn and use something new. A language that will help you go for that promotion, a hobby that will help you feel creative, anything new adds some flavour to your life and helps you feel alive again!

Trust your gut – I know what they say about first impressions but when something feels off, and continues to feel off after some time, then it’s time to move on! No time for bad karma 🙂 Which brings us to the next tip:

Detox – from stress, toxic food and toxic relationships. Focus on the good and do what makes you feel more alive!

Be more confident – at work, with your body, with pursuing the things you really want. Some day is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave, baby!

Tick off one thing from your bucket list – for the amazing satisfaction of crossing things off lists (I suffer from that, do you?) and for the even better feeling you will get after doing something you have been wanting for a while. And if you don’t have one…

Create a bucket list – for 2 (fairly good) reasons, see above. Also, we all work better when we have a set goal, I think.

And don’t forget…

Just take some time to relax – you deserve some you time every day. Choose your favorite routine and make it work for you!

Investing in yourself emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially, will allow you to become the best version of yourself. And when you are the best version of yourself, you love unconditionally and  everything flows smoothly to wherever you want it to go!

As one of our favorite icons of the last century said:

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed

Audrey Hepburn