Putting Myself First: Part Eleven
How do you know you’re putting yourself first?
Genuine question - how do you know?
Is it that you’re doing all the things on your vision board/ bucket list/ to do list? Is it a feeling - something more emotional than ticking things off?
How do you know?
For me it’s reflection.
I love to take photos, I have 1000’s of them on my phone and monthly I print around 40 of my favorites off - one day I’ll arrange them in albums (it’s on my Putting Myself First list) and while I was sorting through photos o my phone I made an album called 2022. All my favorite snaps of the year so far. And it was amazing to see what we’d done as a family and what I had done as an individual.
And I had a good old reflect on it all. That’s right - at the start of September rather than in December like we usually do. 2022 so far has been a massive year for me - and we still have 3.5 months to go! But that’s no surprise - my girls are now both in full time school, they are at an age where bedtime is easy and lovely, they play really nicely together and so I have more free time to dedicate to myself.
And some of the things I have been doing have been so small, simple things. Things that without reflection I wouldn’t even class as Putting Me First. Such as saying no.
A really good friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go and see a show with her. I LOVE going to the theatre to see something - a good musical, I love watching a chat with someone I admire, I love a bit of comedy. She asked me to see something I didn’t really love. It would be a mothers day gift from her children to her (both tickets) so the ticket would be free for me - I’d be accompanying her to see it. But, I didn’t want to go. Plain and simple. I wanted to spend the evening with my husband and children eating nice food and playing board games. The old version of me would have just gone to the show, knowing it wasn’t my thing. Because the old me felt too much that it’s polite to say yes, and putting her needs in front of mine was just what I did.
But I said no. I explained it wasn’t my thing and I didn’t fancy going. And while I write this on the laptop, it feels weird saying it was a big old Putting Me First WIN! But it was. And I only realised that on reflection.
So, reflect on the win’s of your month/ year/ life! And notice all the ways you put yourself first.
Until next time - L xx
