Why Self-Care is CRUCIAL!

🛑 𝙄’𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝙀𝙉𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃 𝙊𝙁 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙔𝙊𝙍𝙆!!! 🛑

It was only 3 hours ago the clock hit noon. 🕛 But I had already made the decision: Time for me to head out of New York City, and time for me to head back to my AirBnb in New Jersey to call it quits for the day. 👍

Have you ever had a moment where you’re in the middle of something and the realization hits you that you are BURNED OUT? 😪 That moment hit me this morning!

I had gone back into the city to do some more sightseeing, and then…

🚧 ＢＡＭ！ ＲＯＡＤＢＬＯＣＫ！🚧

I had been ignoring the messages my body was trying to tell me the past day. 📬 But now they had reached the surface of my mind and it became clear as day: I needed to rest! 😴

Reminding myself of the marathon tomorrow, I knew this was the best option. While you bet your bottom-dollar I’ll be at the starting line tomorrow, I can’t be there with less than a half-tank of gas! ⛽

🌟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞! 🌟

So, I’m taking some Me Time the rest of the day. To introspect. To refocus. To be present again with my thoughts, away from the excessive noise of the city. 🧘‍♂️

To be fair, I’ve heard over a couple dozen cars honking outside my window as I write this but it’s better than nothing! 😅

If there’s one thing I’ve learned traveling so much is you need to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. ❤️ When you travel, you are stepping outside your regular routines, adapting to your new surroundings, and that will take time. You may even at times be required to simply improvise. 😅

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐄𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐎𝐢𝐧𝐠. 🧘‍♂️

That’s why I’m back at my AirBnb now. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓. 🛑

I got to tell you: it can be the greatest form of self-love you give yourself today! ❤️

🛑 𝙄’𝙑𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝙀𝙉𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃 𝙊𝙁 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙔𝙊𝙍𝙆!!! 🛑

Now that I’m giving myself the time to introspect, I’m able to take a step back and reflect since I arrived here. I’ve had some great moments in New York so far, especially ones with local friends of mine. ☺️

But even more, I’ve experienced many opportunities for growth. These may also be referred to as “problems”, but they only remain problems so long as you don’t grow from them. 🎁

As much as I may not have initially enjoyed experiencing these things, I’m grateful I did so I could learn from them:

🧳 Not knowing how to fit my luggage through a train’s turnstile

🎫 Not knowing how to purchase bus tickets

🚌 Getting on the wrong bus, wasting a bus ticket I bought for another

💸 Rode a bus which only accepted cash and all I had was my credit card

👣 Not anticipating how much I’d use buses, trains, and my 2 feet to get around

🦵 Not anticipating how much my leg muscles would be aching after a single day

Perhaps some of you, my urban-dwelling friends, are reading this list and laughing at how trivial it sounds. 🤣 I don’t blame you! I was raised in the quiet suburbs of Chicago most of my life, so I understand how silly these will sound to some. 😅

But this post isn’t about throwing a pity party or talking to you about first-world problems. It’s to remind you that while we may at times purposefully take on goals which challenge us, like running a Marathon, we’re always going to run into goals we never planned on taking on. 😲

🌟 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 “𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭” 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭. 🌟

And our willingness to take on the goals we didn’t ask for is where the greatest opportunities for growth will come in! 🏋️‍♂️

And so I lay here, in my AirBnb bed, thinking about all that’s happened. I smile looking back on it all, how my mind initially magnified those “problems”, how I was aware my mind was magnifying them, and how I focused on solutions nonetheless. I look back and laugh. 🤭

🏁 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲. 🏁

Soon after, you’ll be asking yourself: “So…what’s next?!” 💪