Ah, March. Still holding onto to that last bit of winter but with the buds of spring on the way. Also, lots of pollen. lol.

When I was doing one of my meditations last month, one topic was self-respect. Despite the journey that I’ve been on this last years, I was reminded that there is always room to grow and learn. You hear self-care everywhere. It’s great. I love it. Because the majority of us have put ourselves on the back burner for, well, almost always. It’s that self-care journey that started me writing these blogs. It was the kick in the pants I didn’t know I needed.

Then came self-love. Because, let’s be honest, that’s different than self-care. Loving yourself so fiercely can heal wounds that have been raw for years. Decades even. Because who else could love us just as we need/want than ourselves? It was a true ah-ha moment.

Now, I bring you self-respect. You would think that the three would be so integral that they would go hand-in-hand, but they don’t always. We can spend hours each month doing all kinds of self-care (I do love me some hair masks! Oh, and my new favorite eye masks, too.) But we don’t always practice self-love. That can be difficult for some. I know the first few times I did it, it felt strange. Yet, I got past that quick enough. I still have to work on my self-love. I’m my own worst critic. I constantly catch myself making negative comments about my body unfortunately.

So why doesn’t self-love and self-care mix like PB&J? I have no idea. It should.

As for self-respect, that one truly got me. As I listened to my mediation, I was taken aback that I didn’t have as strong a self-respect as I should have. I wasn’t as bad as my self-love was (we won’t discuss that. It really is embarrassing). I love that the Universe keeps sending me these things to work on. It’s like a spotlight moving from one thing to the next, helping me grow as an individual and become my best self. Because isn’t that what we all want? I can say that the self-respect is just as powerful and important as the self-love and self-care. If we don’t respect ourselves, our needs, our wants, our beliefs, then what’s the point? Be honest about who you are. And who you aren’t. Be yourself. Whoever that may be. The weirder, the better, I say! We have to be able to stand up for ourselves. We have to know when we’ve reached our limit. And we have to be able to respect ourselves enough to realize that and make a change.

Self-care. Self-love. Self-respect.

I imagine each of them like one side of a triangle all pointing upward to one important thing—us. So, take the extra time to practice all three. You’ll start seeing the difference in yourself almost immediately.

I sign off with The Best from Tina Turner. I love, love, LOVE this song. Especially the renditions on Schitts Creek. Enjoy!

 

xoxox,

DG

 

“Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom.”

~ Henepola Gunaratana