On Valentine’s Day Remember Importance of Self-Love

Today’s post is about self-love. It may be Valentine’s Day tomorrow and I am all for LOVE of others, and having a loving partner to support you is wonderful, but not everyone has that. I am one of the lucky ones.

The pic below was taken a few months ago when we stayed in a bubble for a night at Finn Lough. Tip, you always look better if you lie down for a photo!!!

In fact, I believe that before you love others, you have to learn to love yourself. Yes, self-love is important and is not selfish.

That means taking time for yourself and looking after YOU.

Irish women are particularly bad at this, because we believe we can do it all. Women of my generation who worked outside the home, ran the home and tried to be all things to all people are particularly bad at self-care and self-love. I am not sure that it has changed much either.

TIPS FOR LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF

1 Eat a varied, healthy diet, keeping sugar to a minimum.

2 Moderate exercise…do something you enjoy several times a week…whether that is a walk, a game of golf, an exercise class…

3 Do not ignore health issues, go for bone scans, breast and cervical checks and blood tests. I am a great believer in an integrated approach to my health and am a proponent of complementary medicine such as acupuncture.

4 If you smoke, get help to quit and drink alcohol in moderation. I used to use alcohol to help me relax; now I drink less and enjoy it more.

5 Take time to relax…read a book…look at the telly…meet a friend for a chat.

6 Stop multi-tasking. Give your full attention to one thing at a time. Graham cannot talk and chop vegetables, for example. I can talk, cook dinner and clean the kitchen, all at the same time. But, that is not necessarily a good thing. In fact, it can negatively affect memory.

7 Avoid stress or learn how to deal with it. Easier said than done in today’s world, I know.

8 Learn how to breathe properly. Yoga will help. Being mindful of your breathing can help with stress.

9 Stop trying to be all things to all people, you will never please everyone. That is a fact of life.

10 Cultivate positive friendships and value them.

Now I am pretty good at some of the above, most of the time, but like everyone else I also need to be reminded and so I have written these down as much for myself as for you. Hopefully, I will manage to lead a more balanced life and learn to be better at relaxing.

Remember, you need to learn to love yourself and that means taking care of yourself. Self-love = self-care = health.

Have a lovely Valentine’s Day and remember you do not need a valentine to practise SELF-LOVE….

VALENTINE POSTS

You can read about the history of St. Valentine HERE

Or you might like to read another post (published during lockdown) about why St Valentine’s Day is important to GG and me.

VALENTINE PRESENTS

Graham and I tend to celebrate Valentine’s Day quietly in recent years. We often go out for brunch rather than dinner. And we seldom exchange cards or gifts anymore. Yes, we did for years. For the males reading this, I have no advice on what to buy your loved one. If you know her preferred perfume, that is an option, or maybe a voucher for her favourite store.

But definitely do not buy lingerie unless you know the brand, size and preferred style. I prefer to do my own shopping in that department. And in fact, I just returned from purchasing at Shaws, which stocks two of my favourite brands, Playtex and Triumph.

One of the joys of getting older is the increasing difficulty I have in finding comfortable-fitting bras. Anyway, I find the girls at Shaws (free fitting this Feb) are well informed and very helpful. I tend to pop up to Drogheda or down to Portlaoise. And of course there is always lots of lovely fashion and homeware too.

Whatever you are doing this Valentine’s Day make some time for yourself. Self-love starts with you.

 

Thank you for reading

Love Hilda