Quotes About Self-care

The worst thing you can do is to put your life aside for someone else.

I try to be mindful in my daily life, trying to stay more present and have more intention. It keeps me calm, and I feel less whipped about by my emotions.

Whatever you want that others in your life can't give you, ask yourself how you can give it to yourself.

Whatever you do, please don't think of sleep as wasted time, an indulgence, or a generous reservoir from which you can steal time for work. Do what your brain and body beg you to do: get enough sleep.

You tend to ignore the structures that would guide you to take care of yourself if you are taking care of others too much.

Your reflex to help others starts to control you if you don't understand what's happening and take steps to prevent it.

You too heavy a man for me to carry...I done carried heavy men and I know how they can break your back. I ain't got but this one back and I don't want it broke again...

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.

MORAL: The grass is only greener when you're not caring for your own lawn.

Be within your skin for the protection of yourself from the awkward attacks and repercussions.

a heart that is busy cannot mourn

Who wants to feel everything everyone else feels all the time?

Your current body is the only body that can take you to your new body—so be kind to it.

Do not overschedule yourself. Allow time to think, to daydream. 6. Keep your expectations realistic. 7. Do not hide your abilities. 8. Be your own advocate. Support your right to be yourself. 9. Accept it when you have narrow interests. Or broad ones.

priority. Some overeat to become unattractive, some overstudy or overtrain so they have no free time, some pick one boy early and hang on to him for protection.

Because you're more sensitive, you don't need extra discomfort or stress around you. A situation may have been deemed safe but still be stressful for you. Likewise, others may have no problem with fluorescent lights, low levels of machine noise, or chemical odors, but you do. This is a very individual matter, even among HSPs.

HSPs know all about being "too tired to sleep." They are actually too frazzled to sleep.

Often we can get used to stimulation. But sometimes we think we have and aren't being bothered, but suddenly feel exhausted and realize why: We have been putting up with something at a conscious level while it was actually wearing us down. Even a moderate and familiar stimulation, like a day at work, can cause an HSP to need quiet by evening. At that point, one more "small" stimulation can be the last straw.

Meanwhile, your body was learning not to respond as if threatened by each new experience. And in the absence of a response, the body did not experience distressing, long-term arousal. You found that your body was a friend to trust. At the same time, you were learning that you had a special body, a sensitive nervous system. But you could handle things by learning when to push yourself a little, when to take your time, when to back off entirely, when to rest and try later.

So unless this section of the chapter is distressing you, stop and take some time to think about your infant/body's first caretaker and the similarities between that early caretaking and how you care for yourself now.

You have probably learned to take downtime when you need it, which is more often than others do, and avoid overstimulating environments, but only people close to you see this side of you.

Everyone has a limit as to how much information or stimulation can be taken in before getting overloaded, overstimulated, overaroused, overwhelmed, and just over! We simply reach that point sooner than others. Fortunately, as soon as we get some downtime we recover nicely.

When I'm exhausted, I need sleep. Even when I seem totally wide awake. A regular schedule and a calm routine before bed are important to me. Otherwise, I will lie awake in bed all stirred up for hours. I need a lot of time in bed, even if I'm lying awake. I may need it in the middle of the day, too. Please let me have it.

But many HSPs avoid people who come in the overstimulating packages—the strangers, the big parties, the crowds. For