Self-care is kind of a buzz word these days, isn’t it? Did you know that Self-Care is tremendously important for you in a much different way? Did you know having time to yourself will refresh your soul?
A couple of years ago, I read the book “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth” by John Maxwell. I gleaned many important things from this book, but there are two that really stand out to me.
#1: For Every Hour that you spend with someone learning something, you need two hours to reflect on what you learned.
-Now someone of you might be saying, I never spend time with someone learning! Well, I say you need to change that. Whether that be learning through books, a parent, mentor, or older person in the church, you need to keep growing and learning.
#2: John Maxwell goes off to his office every Christmas after he’s spent time with his wife, children, and grandchildren to reflect on how the past year as gone. He spends time looking over his journals and reflecting on what went right and what went wrong over the past year.
These two things have really changed the way that I look at life. Now it makes sense why my tendency to think over conversations after visiting with a friend or an encounter with a stranger is actually healthy. This is what actually helps me to process through the various events in my life.
Quite a while ago, I wrote a post entitled: “3 Ways I Practice Self-Care Everyday.” As time passes, I’ve realized just how important Self-Care is, but not necessarily in the way much of the world envisions. You see, I don’t have a lot of time to go out and get manicures and pedicures, though none of that is wrong.
How having time to myself refreshes my soul
More and more my time to myself is spent with my heavenly Father, in conversation with him, walking in his creation, listening to or playing worship music, and reading his Word. So, while I do love to go and spend time with my friends, I am finding that true refreshment of my soul comes from spending time with Daddy God. Each day goes so much better when I spend time with him.
I’ve also recognized that when I give myself the chance to reflect, to enjoy time with Daddy God, I am a much more patient and fun person to be around. There is just something about spending time with our Heavenly Father that is refreshing to my soul.
How About You?
You may be a Season of Babies and Toddlers and you may not be getting a lot of sleep. Or you may be in a season of tremendous busyness.
I encourage you, don’t spend all your free time on Social Media or watching tv. Spend more of it in communion with your Heavenly Father. Instead of surfing Facebook while nursing your baby at night, open up your Bible or Bible App and read it. Instead of binge-watching your favorite tv show, make the choice to listen to Worship Music.
It’s not easy
I guarantee that these are not the easy choices.
I guarantee that your flesh won’t want to do them all the time.
And I will be honest and say that I still make the wrong choices at times. But it’s not about perfection. It’s about making one good choice at a time and slowly you will find yourself a lot more in-tune with God, a lot more rested, and feeling like you’ve just had a chance to breathe.
How about you? Have you ever noticed how having time to yourself refreshes your soul?
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*All Photos are my own*
