Practice Self-Care & Call It Good
Bailey Jo Welch
Day 1 of 4: Self-Care is Not Selfish
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.
-Mark 6:31-32
There was one topic all of my social work professors loved to talk about every chance they got: self-care. And every time they mentioned it, I brushed it off.
The way I saw it, self-care was for the weak, the soft, the ones who just couldn’t handle the rollercoaster of life. Self-care was for my clients and the people with really hard jobs. Self-care was definitely not for me.
Looking back now, I realize how incredibly arrogant and unhealthy that attitude was, but I’ve found that the experience is not unique to me. I have discovered that many of us feel this way at some point in our lives. We feel like we should be stronger, better, or able to just handle it (whatever it is for each of us).
But that is a lie.
Friends, we were never meant to hunker down and simply endure life. Rather, we were created to thrive—to experience a wide range of emotions and love deeply, to enjoy life’s little delights like ice cream, and warm sunshine, and music. Sometimes it is easy to rejoice in it all, while other seasons of life leave us fighting, grasping for real, intentional life beyond the haze of a steady buzz of anxiety and To-Do Lists.
For me, the last two years have been the latter. If there is one thing I’ve learned during that time, it is that self-care is not selfish. It is not irresponsible or self-serving. In fact, it may be one of the very best ways to serve others. Trust me, you need it. After all, even Jesus practiced self-care. All throughout the Gospels, there are stories about how Jesus went away by himself to a quiet place. Oftentimes, this was early in the morning or after he had spent the day preaching and healing those who needed it. As simple as it sounds, this is self-care.
We care for ourselves so we can care for the whole world.
Do you notice a difference in how you interact with the world around you when you are practicing self care as opposed to when you are not? What does that look like for you?
Bailey Jo Welch