I naively believed that self-care would be the answer. Low and behold, self-care has become a crutch; kind of like a subtle excuse that has put a hold on accountability and responsibility.
Much like everyone else in the world, self-care is fairly new to me. Once upon a time, I read about self-care and the benefits of emotional health and self-discovery.
I became so fascinated and delved into more readings, articles, books, etc.
To me, self-care represented giving yourself a chance. Giving yourself a chance to tackle life with patience, forgiveness, and laughter.
To date, that has been my working definition of self-care. And as a result, I have given myself room to grow in ways that have surprised me in good ways. I have also learned more about others and those who I come into contact with. I have learned to become a bit more emphatic and much more of a listener.
So, please don’t get me wrong because self-care has been good to me. And yet, there are just some things you put off for the sake of self-care that just aren't excusable anymore — at least for me.
Let me give an example
Every evening, I have a routine of writing down the items I need to knock down the next day. This is an opportunity for me to set clear and specific actions that must be completed in order to realize a much bigger goal.
Lately, I have noticed that I have been ignoring these lists. They have grown and grown and shown me a pattern so subtle, I consider myself lucky for noticing.
I started noticing that I would put off important items on my list to read something on medium. Now reading is a productive activity, in fact, I love to read on medium because I get to learn so much about so many things. [I’m grateful for this platform for that reason.]
But sometimes, I ran away into medium while ignoring the more pressing items that must be checked off.
In this manner, self-care is robbing me of the very thing that it promises to cultivate in me — accountability.
I believe being accountable to yourself is very empowering. Making promises and realizing them takes a…
