Have You Forgotten How to Live and Enjoy Your Life?

Have you been so wrapped up in work or taking care of your children or stressed over financial issues that you've forgotten how to live and enjoy your life?

You may be in so much emotional distress that you think you have no life; all you are is your pain and stress.  That's not even true.  You are more than your stress.  You can be more than your financial problems.  You will be more than your care-taking title.  Just because life has been stressful or painful so far does not mean it will stay that way.  Life does not have to hurt so much, and it won't, if you begin to change.  Well, it might not be all roses from here on out, but it sure doesn't have to be all thorns either.  You need to and can develop your own life,  you know, "Get a life."

Have you ever thought that life has no future, no purpose, nothing worth living?  That isn't true.  Either believe God has exciting, interesting things in store for you and that there is an enjoyable, worthwhile purpose - besides taking care of people - for you.  I think you can tap into this new attitude by taking care of yourself.  When will you begin to open yourself up to the goodness and richness available in you and to you?

Self-care and developing your own life, are attitudes toward yourself and a life that says, I am responsible for myself.  I am responsible for living my life.  I am responsible for tending to my spiritual, emotional, physical and financial well-being.  I am responsible for identifying and meeting my needs.  I am responsible for solving my problems and learning to live with those I cannot solve.  I am responsible for my choices.  I am responsible for what I give and receive.  I am also responsible for setting and achieving my goals.  I'm responsible for how much I enjoy life, for how much pleasure I find in daily activities.  I am responsible for whom I love and how I choose to express this love.  I am responsible for what I do to others and for what I allow others to do to me.  I am responsible for my wants and desires.  All of me, every aspect of my being, is important.  I count for something.  I matter.  My feelings can be trusted.  My thinking is appropriate.  I value my wants and needs.  I do not deserve and will not tolerate abuse or constant mistreatment.  I have rights,  and it is my responsibility to assert these rights.  The decisions I make and the way I conduct myself will reflect my high self-esteem.  My decisions will take into account my responsibilities to myself.

My decisions will also take into account my responsibilities to other people - my spouse, my children, my relatives, my friends.  I will examine and decide exactly what these responsibilities are as I make my decisions.  I will also consider the rights of those around me - the right to live their lives as they see fit.   I do not have the right to impose on others' rights to take care of themselves, and they have no right to impose on my rights.
Self-care is an attitude of mutual respect.  You can learn to live your live responsibly.  You can allow others to live their lives as they choose, as long as they don't interfere with your decisions to live as you choose.  Taking care of yourself is not as selfish as some people assume it is, but neither is it as selfless as many believe.

These ideas might shock you and your family at first especially if you are not one to ask for what you need.  Have you given much thought to what you want and need?  There are ways to take care of yourself:  goal setting, dealing with feelings, and believing in yourself.  I think taking care of yourself is an art, and this art involves one fundamental idea that is probably foreign to you: give yourself what you need.