What brings happiness? What brings delight? What habits lead to more of both? These are questions that I’ve been mulling over lately at First Ourselves, my blog.
Happiness implies joy. It implies comfort and satisfaction. It implies a framework of self care: a foundation that enables you to soar to the lofty heights of joy and bliss. How do you create this framework? Here’s my answer: care for yourself as well as you care for your children.
How do you treat your kids? That’s how you should treat yourself. And if you’re not treating yourself with the same compassion, kindness, and consideration, that’s a red flag that you need to endow your habits with greater grace and respect.
Are you dubious? Think of all the nutty things you’ve done to yourself that were really punishments in disguise: forcing yourself to wear too small clothing when you’d gone up a size; not buying yourself clothing until you lost weight or reached some other milestone; restricting your diet to a few chosen foods; skipping meals; omitting your wants from the family budget; offering to do a chore or errand that you detest; skimping on sleep, rest and other basic care. Would you treat your child that way? No.
So how do you treat your children? Here’s how I treat mine. Likewise, here’s how I treat myself:
- When you’re hungry, get a snack. This makes me think of a quip by Christiane Northrup: “You will achieve enlightenment much faster with stable blood sugar.”
- Eat vegetables. We need healthy food to feel our best. We don’t feed our children junk all day long; why do we do that to ourselves? That being said....
- Leave room for dessert. There’s a time to celebrate and enjoy a treat.
- Rest when you’re tired. When our toddlers are cranky, we put them down for a nap. When they’re worn out at the end of a day, we tuck them into bed. Simple, but it works wonders for a calm disposition.
- Play. When’s the last time you did something just for fun?
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