Self-care has become one of those phrases that you feel the urge to roll your eyes at when suggested now. It has become overused, abused, and commercialized partially because of social media. People are selling the idea of self-care. To some extent, self care is seen as something that you’re supposed to spend money to have, somewhere you have to go to find, or something that has to be planned to obtain.
Self-care is not just that. It is deeper than that spa day that you keep booking for the physical sake of caring for oneself. The notion of self care presents that having a “treat yourself” day is going to solve a lot of what is sending you to need the act of self-care. If you are not being intentional about doing the internal work that comes with the acts, then there will always be a need to seek it from outside forces.
If one of your main stressors is caused by your financial status, then idea of trying to treat yourself by spending money when your pockets are already tight adds more stress. During the act of self-care, you're probably having trouble really enjoying it because you're thinking about the fact that you really could have spent that money on something else.
Now, I want to be clear that self-care does depend on the person. If the spa day is your thing, then let that be your thing. If taking a weekend trip is your thing, then let that be your thing. My point is to make sure the act of caring for yourself is the act of adding to yourself, not taking away. It is the act of pouring, instead of emptying. It is the act of receiving, instead of giving.
So do not allow yourself to get caught up in what you think you "should" be doing because of what a social media post said. Do what is only satisfying to you.
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