What makes you feel alive?

What really, truly sets you on fire? What makes you feel you’re living your true life purpose?

Today is #InternationalSelfCareDay and it’s a great day to examine how well we are taking care of ourselves. The most important thing to know about self-care is that if you’re not taking care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else. It’s not selfish.

Let me say that again: it’s not selfish.

It’s selfless.

So often people (especially women) think that taking some time off for themselves is selfish. How can you sit around and read a book or soak in the tub when there are dishes in the sink, floors to be vacuumed and other things to do?

While I fully promote keeping a tidy house and not falling behind on housework, I assure you, the dishes will still be there. How much more energized could you be for doing household chores if you took care of your physical and emotional well-being first?

There’s a reason they tell you on airplanes to put on your oxygen mask first. How can you help anyone else if you run out of oxygen? The same can be said about our energy, our life force, the essence of well.. US.

It’s what makes you tick. It’s what makes you YOU. Energy is flowing through us each and every day and if you’re not taking care of it, protecting it, nurturing it… your energy will get bogged down. You’ll carry negative energy.

It shows up in the form of chronic fatigue, mood swings, trouble sleeping, snapping at your kid/friend/partner/stranger for no good reason. It makes you feel cranky, irritable, bloated, and “icky”. Sometimes, we can’t even put words to why we feel this way. But you can’t seem to shake it.

Self-care is the key to healing this, and even to preventing it in the first place. A regular routine of self-care will keep your energy light and bright. It will help you to feel true joy, even in the midst of hard times or stress.

It’s not about never having a bad day. It’s about learning how to work through those bad days and keep your soul and energy in tact.

Take the time to engage in an activity that makes you feel good today! What does self-care look like to you?

Not feeling it right now?

There are things you can do to change that. Here are some steps to make you feel more alive:

 Do something you’ve always been meaning to do. Try something new or check off a Bucket List item.

 Say something you’ve been meaning to say. Give an overdue apology or tell someone how you really feel about them.

 Plan a vacation or visit a place you’ve always wanted to go.

 Start a new creative project.

 Begin a new hobby or pick back up an old one you’ve neglected.

 Share something in the comments that you want to do, but think you can’t. Just putting it put there is a great first start.

What’s ONE thing you can do this week to help you feel more alive?