Taking Care of Yourself is Productive

The dictionary defines productive as “able to produce large amounts of goods, crops, or other commodities. Sometimes this adjective gets confused with busy. And the question arises: is being busy, productive?

From where I come from, I remember that the women in my family were always busy. They were either working on their jobs outside their homes, on a fixed schedule, at home doing house chores or outside; buying household needs, school supplies for the kid’s projects, visiting family members, attending co-workers birthdays, weddings, bbq’s and other events that after being handed an invite it was almost impossible to say no. Today, I look back and I wonder if they ever stopped and asked themselves what they really wanted or needed to do, for themselves? Or was this a selfish question that had no space back then?

I don’t remember where I learned it, who said it or wrote it, but I remember how my life changed drastically when I put my wellbeing as a priority. At the beginning it felt selfish, but I didn’t want to look back nor question myself on the why’s of my decision. It seemed like it deserved the chance to try it as something different in order to achieve different results in my life, including how I felt and how I talked to myself. Little did I know that prioritizing my wellbeing would not only lead to becoming a more stable woman, but also a happier one. And the thing is that in order for you to be the best at your job, to give 100% at your business, to be the best friend, parent, supporter, spouse, sibling, son or daughter, you must first be happy with yourself, with who you are and with the things that you do for yourself. This might look different for everyone, it could mean sitting in silence, reading your favorite book next to a cup of coffee at home, going for a run, booking a massage at the five-star spa or going to the movies by yourself and getting the extra-large popcorn bag or sitting under the sun listening to your favorite playlist.

 The thing is that you are capable of choosing to take care of yourself and dedicating your energy to yourself without any guilt. When you do so, things start changing inside of you, and the way you see yourself, the way you feel about yourself improves drastically. And once things start changing inside of you, they start changing outside of you and you realize the effectiveness that taking care of you has on everything that surrounds you and makes you, you. In stillness, in movement, in silence, in melodies; taking care of yourself is not selfish, is productive.

What does taking care of yourself look like for you?


Love,

Carla