What Does Self-Care Truly Mean?

In recent years, self-care has grown significantly in popularity. So many people practice self-care on a regular basis as a way to recharge and give themselves a necessary break. In my opinion, self-care is an important thing that everyone needs to go if they wish to better themselves.

When you think of self-care, what do you picture? A majority of people picture it as wearing a cute face mask that will clear your skin, taking a bubble bath, or drinking a glass or two of wine. For many, this is what self-care looks like. But that’s not true for everyone. It’s not all skincare products and luxurious bubble baths.

There are other forms of self-care that you might not even think of as self-care. You may think of them as chores or something else entirely instead. But the fact of the matter is that self-care goes far beyond the aforementioned things. It includes (but is not limited to):

• Cooking healthy meals
• Cutting off toxic people
• Working out (even when you really don’t want to)
• Checking in with your mental health

Self-care isn’t as sexy or as fancy as it’s often portrayed by others. Sometimes, it’s about doing the things that are necessary in order to better yourself that are hard. It’s not about doing things for short-term gain; it’s about doing things that will better you in the long run. It’s less about looking and feeling prettier, and more about addressing yourself internally in order to become a better person.

I know that my description of self-care doesn’t sound as appealing or as Instagram-worthy. But that shouldn’t matter. It’s more important to take proper care of yourself, even if it doesn’t include the stereotpyical aspects of self-care. You should always do what’s necesssary to better yourself. It isn’t going to be easy, and it an be both emotionally and mentally taxing at times. But if it’s going to benefit you in the long-run, it it’s well worth it.

To better yourself and to become the person that you know you’re supposed to be; that’s what self-care truly means.

xo,

Elizabeth