Self-Care Is Part of Our Life's Purpose

“’What is real?’ asked the Rabbit one day… ‘Does it mean having things buzz inside and a stick-out handle?’ ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse, ‘It’s something that happens to you.’ ‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit. ‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse.”

Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

   Discovering our true God-encoded purpose in life requires that we become authentic or real people. It means we stop hiding behind our fears and allow ourselves to be vulnerable— to open up to ourselves, to life, to others. It means we recognize that we alone are the stewards of the life God gave us. It means learning to honestly love ourselves.

   Becoming real, as the Velveteen Rabbit learned, means we must own our thoughts and choose them wisely (Choosing the kind over the critical). It also means we must open-up to  our feelings and be willing to accept them, even when they do hurt. It likewise means that we must learn to treasure our bodies by nurturing them properly.

   Proper physical nurturing requires that we understand our eating habits. Most of us eat self-destructively. We eat comfort foods, which are rarely good for us. These sugary and salty food feed our emotional emptiness while destroying our bodies by adding access pounds and other health-related complications. So we need to understand what we’re eating and why. It will help us to eat foods that are nourishing, instead of foods that are medicating.

   Exercise, massage, aromatherapy and meditation are also ways in which we need to nurture the bodies God has blessed us with. Play is also important. Like exercise, it increases the production of feel-good endorphins in our brains. And of course rest and relaxation are also key to balancing our physical needs with our mental, emotional and spiritual needs.

   Total self-care (mental, emotional, physical and spiritual) will help us to unlock the God-encoded purpose that we seek to understand and life fully.

   The more we work at finding balance, the more we will come to love and appreciate the unique person that God created us to be. And the more we partner with ourselves, instead of defriending ourselves, the more our purpose will unfold before our very eyes.

   Self-love and self-care are the surest path to purpose. Keeping the focus on us and our spiritual connections to a Higher Power keep us on the right path— preventing us from straying by becoming obsessed with someone or something outside of ourselves.

   The better we feel about our complete self, the more energy we have to share with others and the world around us; the more productive we are and the more spiritual-attuned we are to understanding and living our unique purpose.

   Take some time to meditate on the importance of caring for your COMPLETE self.