17 Easy Ways to Take Good Care of Yourself

Let’s just call this a list of reminders for some things you’ve been meaning to do–

Stop rushing around. When will we realize that rushing here and there is an ineffective remedy for chronic lateness? Plan ahead. Plan to arrive 15 minutes before any appointment. Promise yourself 15 minutes of relaxation in your car with your favorite music for arriving early.

Wake up before everyone else in your house. The more time you spend sitting quietly in the morning, just contemplating things, the wiser, wealthier and healthier you’ll become.

Say exactly what you mean. If you find yourself in a situation where you find yourself feeling intimidated by a certain someone, practice stating your cause or your needs out loud, while you’re alone. Just be honest, say what’s simply true for you.

Refuse to complain and choose to be grateful for what’s good in your life. Each day… ask yourself… what are the things, large and small, in my life that I am truly thankful to have in my life. Purposefully make a mental gratitudes list. Your complaints list will sneak into your mind all by itself. Be ready to wipe it out.

Take care of your health. Seriously. When was the last time you had a check-up? Do you need to schedule appointments for annual tests… mammogram, cholesterol counts, Blood pressure checks, etc.? If you answered ”uh…” to when was your last check-up?…it’s probably time.

Move your body every single chance you get. Good for your heart. Good for your joints. Good for your muscles. Good for your weight.

Beef up your collection of funny movies and your favorite “chick flicks” … watch them often. Laugh, cry or let your imagination run wild… its all good.

Still smoking… after all these years??? STOP. Find a program that works or design a plan for yourself. Whatever it takes. Do it now.

Create a secret stash of playthings for yourself. When you were a kid what did you love to do?…play jacks?… play with Playdoh… color… blow bubbles… read comic books… play with a Lionel train?… or a race car set …hook a rug or weave a potholder… paint by number… ???  Fifteen minutes of old-fashioned play sounds like fun to me!

Today, take yourself some place you want to go. Spending an afternoon browsing a used books store or hunting down a pair of red leather heels or finding a new shade of lipstick is not a waste of time… it’s up to you to find little ways to treat yourself.

Make time for your creativity to flourish. Support your creativity with your favorite music, fresh flowers, scented candles, cuddly clothes to pamper yourself, fragrant herbal teas. Nothing spark s your creative juices like indulging all your senses.

Remember that you can’t do everything alone. Enlist help where needed. A peaceful life is a balanced life that includes time for your mate, your children, your work, your passions and time for you. A lack, or overload, in any of these areas threatens your sense of well-being. Take stock, often, of how your time is spent. And I know you’ve heard it before: Say no when asked to do things that you know will derail your own agenda or your peace of mind in any way.

Give yourself a time out. Nothing heals (or staves off) a case of burn-out like taking the time to sit with yourself in solitude.

Check your self-talk. Are you building yourself up or tearing yourself down? We hear more self-talk than anyone else’s talk… so know that what we say to and about ourselves is indeed important

Cherish your friends. Reach out and touch, call or write to your best sister-friends at least once a week… the more often… the better.

Let go of the things you really don’t need, don’t use and probably don’t even know you have. Be nice… share what you have more than enough of.

Talk to God… simple. Just talk. To walk through your life without acknowledging and communicating with your Creator is to deny yourself a richer, more peace-filled life. There is a full life to be lived on the inside as well as on the outside of us… the intellectual mind is illumined greatly and fabulously by the spirit mind.

Have You Built Yourself a Cozy Little Nest in Trouble?

Think about this:  Whatever space you find yourself in that feels like Trouble to you—whether it’s a draining relationship, a state of lack, a struggle with depression, or a battle with ailing health—you are more familiar with your Trouble scenarios than you are with your High Places possibilities. In other words, your Trouble has become something of a comfort zone/home for you.

. . . Step . . .

Just for a moment or two, stop thinking about your Trouble and begin to think about your High Places. Your High Places.

Who are you on your High Places?

What do you do there?

What do you think about?

Who are you as your Highest Self?

What is your purpose, and what is your passion?

Do you have courage? Are you a bold woman, saying what you truly think and owning your true feelings?

Do you have convictions? (What are you certain of?)

And do you have integrity?

Do you walk in the grace of God . . . living your days by faith . . . and your nights?

Are you focused and clear and passionate about living your life?

Have you been stirred to a gentle excitement about what it really means to be alive?

Can you see yourself on your High Places?

Now, here’s the real question:

Are you, yet, ready to leave your Trouble for your High Places?

Excerpt from From Trouble to High Places: Meditations for Women Who Are So Ready to Cross the Bridges that lead to Joy! Copyright 2009 Esther Davis-Thompson

What Does Sleep have to do with Heart Health?

Read what this article by Dr. Michael J. Breus has to say about the proven connection between sleep and heart health …

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/insomnia-heart-disease_b_1083854.html