Busting the Myth that Self-Care is Selfish: 10-Week Self-Care Challenge

Join me, Coach Judith, every Saturday for the next ten weeks. I will post a new challenge each week and at the end of that time we will look back and see if any of us still believe self-care is selfish. Let’s bust that old myth once and for all.

Remember when your mother said things like, “You need to play nice and not be selfish.” You heard this or more…over…and over…and over. Many factors growing up, from religion to sibling rivalry, made up who you are today. Unfortunately for some of us, we have developed a huge bucket of guilt whenever we even think we would like to do something wonderful for ourselves. Not because we deserve it, but just because we want to. Wow, I don’t know about you but that sounds like freedom to me. Do you want freedom? Do you want to treat yourself with care and respect? If yes, then please join me on my 10–week journey. It will open up your world to new adventures and it might even send that guilt packing. Now wouldn’t that be nice?

Our first week’s adventure begins today with a very simple exercise. For the next week, if you are willing to take on the self-care challenge, we are going to explore gratitude and what being grateful, on a very deep level, will do to prepare you for the bigger self-care challenges ahead.

Exercise Week One:

Spend 5-10 minutes each day writing down what you are grateful for. Read more

My Progress Report

I have been maintaining my focus on abundance, gratitude, and taking a day to relax, rejuvenate and let go.   Before I share some fun stories about my focus on abundance I’d just like to say that the past couple of Monday’s I have been very good at taking some time to relax.  I read a great book and took naps!  As with anything, its practice, practice, practice and the more and more I take time for myself on Mondays the more habitual it becomes.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my latest focus being on abundance and gratitude.  Well, I must say that the past couple of weeks have been amazing!  I’d like to share with you some fun examples of what has happened in my life since I’ve been really taking the time to focus my energy, my thoughts, and my intentions on abundance.  Read more

An experiment in gratitude

Sometimes we forget to take the time to recognize the richness that defines our lives. This may be because many of the messages we encounter as we go about our affairs prompt us to think about what we don’t have rather than all the abundance we do enjoy. Consequently, our gratitude exists in perpetual conflict with our desire for more, whether we crave time, convenience, wealth, or enlightenment. Yet understanding and truly appreciating our blessings can be as simple as walking a mile in another’s shoes for a short period of time. Because many of us lead comparatively insular lives, we may not comprehend the full scope of our prosperity that is relative to our sisters and brothers in humanity.

If you find taking an inventory of your life’s blessings difficult, consider the ease with which you nourish your body and mind, feed your family, move from place to place, and attend to tasks at hand. For a great number of people, activities you may take for granted, such as attaining an education, buying healthy food, commuting to work, or keeping a clean house, represent great challenges. To experience firsthand the complex tests others face as a matter of course in their daily lives, try living without the amenities you most often take for granted. This can be a great experiment to undertake with your entire family or a classroom. Read more

Gratitude and the question of worthiness

We all know what it’s like to finally get something we want, only to find ourselves feeling as if we don’t deserve it. Whether it’s a car, a new job, or a date with someone wonderful, we suddenly feel as if we are not up to it. Something in us wants to reject this gift from the universe, perhaps because it requires that we think of ourselves in a new way or makes us question why we should have something that others don’t have. If these feelings of unworthiness are not consciously acknowledged, they can lead us to sabotage ourselves out of the gift being offered. Perhaps the best way to avoid rejection and sabotage is to simply shift into a state of gratitude, bypassing the question of worthiness altogether. Read more

“Thank you,” always the first words of the day

Lifetime of gratitude

It is wonderful to be in the moment and thank those around us for helping.  Sometimes, it is nice to reflect on those who have been in our lives a long time ago and whose actions or words shaped us and influenced who we are today.

One such person for me was my 7th grade biology teacher.  His class was “the one” that sparked my interest in cell biology and literally determined the course of my career from the tender age of 12.  I will never forget him.

Well, fast-forward many years later (about 20 actually), and I was at a crossroads deciding what to do… and I decided upon teaching college biology!  I wrote my teacher a long letter, describing my career path, life choices and what I was going to do, and of course the letter was a BIG thank you note to him for getting me started.  He actually wrote back to me and said how happy he was to hear from me and he gave me updates about how he was teaching his class these days!

It was just so amazing to reconnect with him and be able to express my gratitude for something that had happened so long ago, but which continued to inspire me. Read more

Letters of gratitude

We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to be able to sit in such a beautiful room on such comfortable furniture, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat… There’s opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful; that’s what life is. –Brother David Steindl-Rast

A Retired Teacher’s Letters of Gratitude:
Xu Niankui, a 76-year-old retired teacher in China, had just gotten on a bus when a young girl immediately offered up her seat for him. Xu began chatting with her, and though he couldn’t get her name or age, he found out she was from Taopu Middle School, and so sent a letter to the school thanking the anonymous girl. The school identified the good Samaritan and ended up recognizing her for her charitable act. This was a revelation for Xu: he decided that if people realized how much a simple motion like giving up their seat meant to other people, they would do similar good deeds more. Since that time in May 2007, Xu has stepped his thanking up a notch and made a habit of giving a letter of gratitude to every person who’s ever gotten up for him. [Read more here]

Be The Change:
Step it up — go out of your way to send a special thanks to someone.

~Reprinted with permission from DailyGood.org

The Acknowledge Department

I dreamed that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.   My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, “This is the Receiving Section.  Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.”

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.  Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.  The angel then said to me, “This is the Packaging and Delivery Section.  Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.”  I noticed again how busy it was there.  There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station.  To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing.  “This is the Acknowledgment Section,” my angel friend quietly admitted to me.  He seemed embarrassed “How is it that there is no work going on here?” I asked.

“So sad,” the angel sighed.  “After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments .”

“How does one acknowledge God’s blessings?” I asked.

“Simple,” the angel answered. Just say, “Thank you, Lord.” Read more

The day the paint box fell from heaven

When heaven paints… Watch the slide show below to see the beauty.

We live in an awesome world
Make it an awesome day
Peace to all and may God bless you
Live simply
Love generously
Care deeply
Speak kindly
Leave the rest to God

Video: Supplemental life – Dr. Robert Kiltz

Dr. Rob shares his video he created this morning with the daily intention, Supplemental life as well as some suggested meditations and mantra. Create your supplemental life with love, forgiveness and no judgment.

Video transcription:

Good morning to all and a fantastic day today
Supplemental life, my intention of the day
I feel ok just this way
Yet I know that I want to grow
To be better and move more freely with the flow
I must first supplement and add a better way Read more