Showtime ~ It's MY Time!

Showtime ~ It's MY Time!

“Show up for yourself” is my go to term in my personal life and when speaking with my clients in session. Although I can’t pinpoint exactly where I first heard this term I do know the dialogue was around putting your physical, emotional, mental, etc self first because if you don’t then who will. Even though I love the term and use it frequently.; I don’t always practice what I preach so i figured writing about this topic will help hone in on my belief of it and of course share it with my fellow journeyers.

To me showing up for yourself means putting your needs, feelings, emotions, peace, well-being, safety, sanity, health, your entire being before anyone else. This may sound selfish but it really isn’t. A lot of times in life we do what’s best for others before what is best for ourselves. Now I am not saying if you and your child are both hungry the parent should feed themselves and not their hungry child because they have to show up for themselves. {LoL} What I am saying is if a job, friendship, relationship, atmosphere, etc is not conducive to your well-being, who you are and strive to be yourself then changes need to be made.

For me showing up for myself is deleting my work email app from my phone when I went to Jamaica for a couple of days. I had an extremely difficult school year (school year in terms of work because I am a School Social Worker) so for me I had to take some time to decompress, focus on me, and enjoy my family and the beautiful island of Jamaica and focus on work when I get back. (Example of self-care). This simple yet powerful act is ensuring I respect my own time off because I have been on the beach in other countries answering emails and also it also sets a precedent for others that I work within my scheduled hours and days. I also show up for myself by evaluating my relationships whether platonic or romantic and being honest with myself on how it affects my physical, emotional, mental health and making adjustments to how I interact with these people whether it’s ending the relationship because it is unhealthy and toxic or lessening my outreach because it not reciprocated or realizing feelings and dedicated to the relationship isn’t the same so slowly scaling back so that my feelings are not hurt. These are just a few showing up for myself ways.

Showing up for yourself is another way of saying loving yourself, honoring yourself, or just doing what you need to do to take really good care of yourself. Just like many other things in life, there isn’t an instructional guide on how to Show up for yourself. Showing up for yourself is a personal, individualized and customizable act. Only you know exactly what you need when you need it. Showing up for yourself is a daily routine. It's not an “okay I did these five things for ten weeks and now I am done”. NO, it’s a daily act. Everyday you have self- reflect and evaluate what’s going on within yourself, with the people around, your environment, etc and see if its conducive to who you are, who want to be and where you want to be in life.

This week; take some time to self-reflect and evaluate your life and the areas you need to start showing up for yourself or areas you need to continue and strengthen! It's Showtime~ It's your time! Do it for you! We got this!