Sometimes in life, especially when we have others who depend on us, we get caught up in taking care of everyone else and neglecting ourselves. When you become a mother, naturally your children’s needs come first. When we get into a relationship, we tend to make sure that we take care of our significant other, and sometimes put our own needs on the back burner. When we work for an employer, they pretty much tell us how and when we can live our lives, and after working a 40 week+ schedule it doesn’t leave much room for self care. In turn, we get burned out! Doing the simple things for ourselves begins to feel as if it’s just more work added to our already heavy load. Anytime that we begin to feel that caring for ourselves is a “burden,” it’s an indication that we need to put more effort into loving and caring for ourselves more. MUCH MORE! Self care is more than just getting our hair and nails done every other week. Self care is more than just taking care of our physical self; it’s taking care of yourself mentally, spiritually, and emotionally as well. Self care is exactly what it says; caring about yourself enough to be healthy in all areas (mind, body, emotions, soul). It’s identifying the areas in ourselves that we need to work on. Whether it’s working out to lose those extra pounds that we’ve gained, reading our bibles and other positive reads to feed our spirits, or cutting off that toxic mate or friend who constantly drains our energy with their negativity. It’s making the decision to make our needs a priority, unapologetically! Sometimes people get self care confused with being “selfish,” and it’s a HUGE difference. To be selfish means to have absolutely no consideration for others. It means to solely think of oneself and never another individual. It means to be completely centered around self. That’s NOT what we mean when we practice self love.We simply mean that we love ourselves, TOO! It means that we care about ourselves, TOO! It means that if we don’t love and care for ourselves, that eventually we wont have the energy or the desire to care for others. It’s extremely important that we give ourselves the proper maintenance that we need in all areas of our lives, because just like a car without proper maintenance, eventually we will break down. Whether it’s a physical breakdown or a mental one, sometimes we have to take  a step back and REST! Not only is it okay to rest, but its necessary! Resting allows us to really clear our minds and identify the areas of ourselves that we’ve neglected, and strategize ways to replenish them. That’s one of the beautiful parts about self care and self love; even though we tend to neglect ourselves more than not, we can always “pick back up” on it, and the our bodies will welcome us back with open arms! See, other people may not always welcome you back when they feel as if you’ve “neglected” them. They’ll hold it against you when you don’t show love to them how they want you to, or when you don’t put them as a priority like you normally would. You’ll be cut off before you can even explain to them that you’ve been dealing with your own issues. But most people aren’t programmed to be considerate of others, only themselves. So it’s up to YOU to be considerate of yourself and to truly take proper care of yourself; Mind, body, and soul. It all starts with YOU! You can’t depend on a soul to love you correctly, if you don’t know how to love your self correctly. No matter how much a person does to make you happy or unhappy, when you don’t love or care for your self you’ll be willing to accept anything someone gives you, whether it’s good or bad! When you know your worth, you call the shots! Never feel guilty for taking care of you! Never feel selfish for loving YOU! Self love is the greatest love in the world, next to God’s love! If you want someone to love you correctly, you must FIRST love yourself correctly. You set the tone for how others treat you. Love yourself today, and every day! You owe that to yourself, and much more❤️