Life has been a little more slow for almost a year (intentionally) and one new concept I’m working on building is the idea of self care. For me self care got a bad rep because it felt indulgent to take care of myself when I have all these other responsibilities, and aren’t we supposed to put others before ourselves?
But if you know the real deal about self care you know that taking care of yourself is essential to being able to take care of others. I think when Jesus says we should love our neighbor as our self it can be a real flaw if we don’t love ourselves because how would we know how to love others, and that each life matters equally, which is, infinitely.
We are a gift to ourselves.
We got back from a great trip to Greece recently and it was incredible to visit all these sites where ancient humans lived and worshiped and celebrated. It was neat to see museums filled with beautiful unique things and also the things and images of daily life that could have come right out of our own time.
As part of my self-care and to get back into a healthy lifestyle after this vacation I’ve started to take walks outside. Not just for exercise but studies show that being in nature can help our mental health as well as any physical health. I can’t deny that as a nature lover and also with the knowledge that God created nature for us to enjoy with Him.
This is the time of year where I live where it feels cool in the morning because it’s not burning hot and I can catch the sunrise on a walk at the park before work. As I watch the sunrise I thought how amazing it is that an ordinary thing that happens every day has happened for every human who’s ever lived on earth including all those ancient Greeks and even the Son of God Himself.
How the sun has risen every day of my life and will rise every day I’m here on Earth and rise on my children and their generations to come at least for the next several thousand years. It’s great to have time to reflect on how the ordinary is extraordinary and have them space to think about it before the more practical thoughts of the days come. I am grateful to keep learning and to have the time and knowledge to look at taking care of myself as part of the journey.
So cheers to the Son, who created the sun, and for eyes to see the miracles and common threads among us in our daily lives!