Often little moments in our everyday lives get overlooked, but it’s in the small moments where we have the opportunity to remind ourselves of self-care, joy, and worthiness.
I feel so much joy within my soul by looking down at a new nail color on my fingertips. It may seem silly or trivial to some but I take pride in them being well manicured and looking their best. I appreciate having nail polish on my nails because it’s a reminder of the time that I spent devoted to myself, some may call it pampering. I call it devotion.
This time of devotion is not to be misunderstood as “me time” or time away from the family, it’s not the time spent at the gym to be healthy or time spent at a yoga workshop gaining inspiration and knowledge. This time of devotion to self stands on its own and only benefits me. When my health coaching clients seem as though they are at the bottom of their well and grasping desperately for self-care because they give of themselves in every aspect of their lives, I tell them to make a “Personal Nourishment Menu”.
The Personal Nourishment Menu is a list of activities that are only for you and that you enjoy. Things on this list should refill your well so that you can be the best version of yourself in your world. After making the list, ask yourself “does anyone else benefit from this?” If the immediate answer in your mind is yes, then cross it off and start again. Go deeper. Find the thing that is for you.
If we imagine a still pond in our minds and you pick up a rock and you throw it into the pond, where the rock hits the water symbolizes you. Each ripple out symbolizes your family and friends, the ones closest to you and the ones further away emotionally and spiritually. Now of course for argument’s sake someone will ultimately benefit from your Personal Nourishment Menu items, I’m not denying that. When I paint my nails the company that makes the nail polish, the nail files, and the fingernail paint remover all benefit financially from me using their products. But they aren’t the people who I am giving of my time and energy. I’m not painting my nails for my family or my yoga students. It doesn’t make me a better mom or more capable of my job or enhance my abilities in any way. It’s an activity that is only for me and one in which I get great joy from.
So what would be on your Personal Nourishment Menu? What activities bring you joy?
Try creating a list of five things that nourish your soul and fill your well, that way you can go out into the world and be of service. Allow yourself to give from a place of abundance rather than from the very bottom of your well. You are best when you are in devotion to yourself first and then let that goodness radiate out.