Lifestyle

28 Days of Grace: A Self-Care Challenge

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence,

it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” – Audre Lorde

It’s the first day of the month and thus the day I usually share my goals and plans for the month. But I’m doing things differently for February.

Inspired by See Jane Write member Jessica Furniss of Spiffy Eats & Giggle Water, this month I will be focusing on self-care. During the monthly virtual group coaching session that I offer members, Jessica mentioned that it would be great to challenge the Janes to treat themselves to at least one act of self-care every day for 28 days. I loved the idea!

My word for 2017 was “grace” and I’ve mentioned before that my word for this year is “faith,” a word I chose after reading a post by entrepreneur Maya Elious in which she wrote: “They say faith without works is dead but work without faith is dead, too. Too often we WORK for love and WORK for success and WORK WORK WORK. But unless we BELIEVE and have FAITH that God truly wants to see us win, we will always lose.”

It will take faith to give myself grace this month. It will take faith to believe that I can make time for self-care every single day and still somehow find time to work on my book, my blog, and my business and prepare for my TED Talk. But I believe I can and I believe I am worth it.

And so are you.

I invite you to join me in 28 Days of Grace: A Self-Care Challenge. Together we will commit to at least one act of self-care every day for 28 days.

Here are 28 ideas to get you started:

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15 Confessions

It’s time for another 15 confessions!

  1. I think about quitting everything every day.
  2. I actually wasn’t planning to do #bloglikecrazy this year until people started telling me how much they were looking forward to it.
  3. I love superhero movies and TV shows because I’m convinced I have special powers.
  4. When complete strangers call me sweetie I want to punch them in the throat to show them just how sweet I am.
  5. If I were 21 I’d try out for the WWE Women’s division.
  6. I eat like a frat boy some days.
  7. I curse like a sailor most days.
  8. I got 99 bobby pins, but I can’t find one.
  9. I hate Christmas.
  10. I don’t like surprises.
  11. People always ask me how I got to be as confident as I am, but I’m actually insecure about almost everything I do.
  12. I have probably seen every single episode of Law & Order SVU and NCIS.
  13. I feel closer to God when I go running than when I go to church.
  14. I think I’ve gained back nearly every pound I lost this summer.
  15. I, too, wonder, Do white people have cousins? 

What do you have to confess? 

 

How to Slay Your Day

image via Instagram

Yesterday sucked.

Not only did Alabama lose the Iron Bowl, but my refrigerator died and hubs and I had to spend LOTS of money to buy a new one (which we won’t get for 10 days).

Since my weekend was off to such a terrible start, I was sure all of it would be a bust, but I woke up this morning and just starting slaying my to-do list!

Even if you didn’t have to spend your Saturday night shopping for expensive appliances, you may be in a bad mood today because you’ve had some extra time off for Thanksgiving and tomorrow you have to go back to the daily grind. Well, I want to give you my top five tips for slaying your day so you can go into this work week with confidence.

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Happy Iron Bowl Saturday

Happy Iron Bowl Saturday!

Today is about much more than watching my alma mater, the University of Alabama, face its biggest rival, Auburn University.

It also means hosting my annual Iron Bowl party complete with my barbecue meatballs and Rotel dip, my cousin’s buffalo chicken dip, my aunt’s rice pudding and some fruits and veggies so I won’t feel as bad about myself.

But most of all it’s about hanging out with family members like my cousin, Tasha, who’s also an alum, is like the sister I never had and is one of my very best friends.

Roll Tide!

What are your plans for the weekend? 

7 Things I’m Grateful for Right Now

My yoga teacher always says that gratitude is the vehicle needed to drive more happiness into your life. And I think he’s right because if I’m being honest with you this year I haven’t been very happy and I haven’t been very grateful, either. There was a time when I wrote gratitude lists every night before bed, but that’s a practice I abandoned months ago. Now here I am writing a gratitude list because it’s Thanksgiving Day and as a blogger, a post about the things I’m grateful for seems required.

Sure, there are some things I’m always thankful for — neighborhood walks with my husband, the strength to run, dance, and do yoga despite my connective tissue disease, girls night with the few friends in my life who love me for who I am and not what I do.

But lately, I’ve been in a foul mood because this year has been a bit disappointing. I am not where I had hoped to be by the end of 2017 and I’m frustrated. Tuesday morning I had a chat with my business coach about these feelings, these feelings that I know come from falling into the trap of comparison. After reminding me that these feelings are normal, she urged me to make a list of all the things I have accomplished this year.

If you’ve been feeling disappointed or discouraged, I encourage you to make a list of your own. Instead of beating yourself up about all the things you haven’t accomplished this year, celebrate all the things that you have.

Here are 7 accomplishments and opportunities I’m grateful for right now:

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