Now Is My Time #5: Where Have We Let Ourselves Go?

First I have to say that Now Is My Time has been really awesome for the first month. I have a great guide who reminds me every time I veer off into the weeds, "okay now let's focus that on you." Every time I hear that question it brings me back. It's been a great month full of awesome Now Is My Time activities that have encompassed physical and mental health, social time, time in nature, great meditations, creative opportunities and reconnecting with things I love like Barnstorm/Brainstorm sessions with EverKelly. I love her latest post you can check out if you click on the link just back there a few words ago.

Another thing I have reconnected with after a short break is my regular morning ritual. It always seems to disappear over the holidays. It's good to have it back. Inspiration at the beginning of the day always makes me feel more directed throughout the day. I have continued my meditation time which I love. There are so many great ones available online! It should never get boring or repetitive. I have had some lovely time with friends this past month. What a comfort. Even deep conversations with wise people I don't know that well have been a stunning success and built us both up. And thanks awesome angel lady stranger who offered me the tall locker she was just emptying at the gym on Saturday. Our short chat was exactly what I needed to hear!

I have also been really good about accepting help. My kitchen is getting cleaned by people other than me a lot more regularly now. It seems that when my family sees me working hard on my goals and trying to better myself it motivates them to do even more to support me. I love that and am trying to say Thank You a lot to make sure they know how appreciated they are. It's awesome to see them become more awesome too!

One of the things I've been focusing on is rooting out those little places in my life where I've "let myself go." As I thought about that I think that we all have places where we've let ourselves go. That doesn't mean we've stopped wearing make up and doing our hair, but more that there are little areas of ourselves we forgot to keep nurturing. Maybe we get busy with jobs or kids or volunteering, but at some point we forget to love some parts of ourselves.

It might mean we have stopped making ourselves look pretty on the outside, maybe we haven't been taking good care of our hair or our skin or flossing our precious teeth. Maybe we have not been building our souls up with inspiration and strength. Maybe we've been letting other's negativity pull us down, not fortressing ourselves enough against things that wear us down. Maybe we're not eating as healthily as we've like to pretend we are.

I'm keeping my eyes open to finding those little places where I have forgotten to love myself and to finding ways to nurture those areas. Some days that means taking time to cook or bake something fantastic, giving it my full attention and strengthening my skills. It has meant joining in activities I have always professed to not really like, that I actually don't dislike as much as I thought I did. 

It has meant going back and looking at who I am and finding little areas I need to heal and grow, breaking down walls that are holding me back from progress I want to make. Other times it has just meant pulling out our family joke books and laughing more or putting on a episode of House Hunters International while I am making dinner or eating lunch. I have been working hard to take better care of my precious skin, using only the best quality products (bought at a great discount after a little effort).

I made time to whiten my teeth last week, which I hadn't done for a while. This was after having had a sterling reputation for some years for having very white, shiny teeth. When did I let that go? The same things goes for my eyebrows. Once at a former job, women I knew had a conversation with me about how perfectly groomed my eyebrows always were. It freaked me out a little that they were watching me that closely but the real concern here is when did I stop being that girl?

I imagine the quest to find little areas where I've neglected to nourish myself will be ongoing because there is only so much time in a day and a lifetime, but taking the time to focus on me requires that I keep a better mind on myself.

Sometimes we can easily start listing areas of our lives that need nurturing. Other times it may take some excavating to get to the deep places. We can all use a little more nurturing and often times that comes best from ourselves. Can you think of places you'd like to start nurturing? 

image via MCA