"...understand that to nurture and love others with the grace you desire means taking care of yourself and cultivating your own inner harmony. Inner harmony grows not by finding ways to get away from your child, but by giving yourself the gift of a hot bath at the end of a long day, reading a book of poetry, talking to a friend on the phone, taking a nap, crying, getting a massage, having a day off from cleaning and cooking, staying in your pajamas all day, swimming, going out to eat, or attending a conference. Do something for yourself as you give. Learn to laugh at yourself and not take yourself so seriously."
~ Peggy O'Mara, The Way Back Home
1 comment:
I like the idea of not making it about getting away from our children (which I did today by going to the gym, even though I didn't want to), but rather proactively taking care of ourselves.
I need to give myself a day off from cooking and cleaning - because I take them without planning, but feel guilty the whole day and try to pretend I'm going to do my work. This reminds me of the Elder Ballard talk and the empty wells of mothers. Why are we so hard on ourselves?
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