jackjanderson | Entries tagged with self-care

Sometimes when I'm futzing around on the internet, my heart breaks at how many people seem to hate themselves. Everyone seems to put themselves down - they think they're too short, too fat, too skinny, they don't have the 'right look'. Even my beautiful Samantha was berating herself the other day for turning grey - which I think just makes her look even more sensational.

It makes no sense - she calls me her 'silver fox' and told me that when I started turning salt and pepper that it was sexy and made me look distinguished. But apparently when a woman goes grey it means she's 'let herself go'

Fucking ridiculous.

It turned into a wonderful conversation though about the things we love about each other, and the things we love about ourselves. And what, I hear you asking, do I love about myself?

My optimism. I love that I see the best in people. I look for the good in everyone and in life.

My hair. Sure it's grey but I've still got a full head of thick hair.

My geekiness. I was a geek for decades before it was cool, always loved science-fiction and superheroes.

My sense of humor. Sometimes it's a bit dark but for the most part I love to make people laugh and try not to take things too seriously. See point one.

My chosen family. Samantha and Lucy. My son. The older I get, the more I appreciate them, the more I love them. They are mine. And they like me the way I am.

So now let me turn it around to you and try spread some joy and love around - what do you love about yourself?

Current Mood: thoughtful

Apparently continuing on with my self-care theme and mostly inspired by yesterday's post - thinking about what makes me happy, about what makes me smile.

1) My wife's smile. When something really excites her, she beams. She has dimples, her whole face lights up and she smiles from ear to ear. It's infectious and always makes me smile.

2) When Lucy doesn't realise she's being watched, and she's dancing and singing as she cleans. A mop makes a good microphone stand!

3) The successes my son has in his career. I'm very proud of what he's accomplished. Something to do with computers that I don't understand Wat all!

4) A rousing uplifting piece of music. Jupiter, from Gustav Holst's Planet Suite is one such piece. I can't not hum along.

5) Manchester City winning.

6) An evening spent with a good coffee, a good book, my girls, my dog and some good music playing. Best way to spend an evening

7) Receiving a thorough spanking. Falling into subspace and flying on endorphins.

8) Playing with the dogs. I'm never too old to roughhouse on the floor with them. Sure I may need help getting back up again these days but that doesn't stop it being a whole lot of fun

9) Superhero movies. I love both Marvel and DC and as an old-school geek it makes my heart swell how popular they still are

10) Winning a game of monopoly. Because we're old and boring, the three of us love to spend an afternoon playing boardgames and monopoly has always been a favourite. I'm competitive by nature and winning makes me feel good

Current Mood: happy

Samantha and Lucy have been all about self-care lately - massages, spa days, yoga, meditation, guided relaxations... that kind of thing. It made me stop and think about what self-care means to me.

It doesn't mean any of that to me. Although I'm not going to turn down a good massage.

To me, it's more about making time for me in my daily life. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day stuff, in the routines of life, in the things that are important to be done. It's about taking the time to stop, put some music on, a mug of coffee and a good book or going out for a meal and a movie with my girls. Sometimes, it's bigger and it's going fishing for the weekend, going to a football match.

I definitely feel better when I take time to connect with people - with Samantha and Lucy, with my son, with my friends. My relationships with the people in my life are important to me so it seems just as important to make sure they're healthy as well.

As I get older, it's important to me to take care of my physical health. I have a number of old injuries that need to be cared for properly. It's been a long, slow, process but I am learning that if my back or my knees start to hurt, I need to stop what I'm doing and care for them - whether that's taking a little break, some gentle stretching, applying heat or ice, or taking painkillers. Sometimes it can mean a massage or a trip to a chiropractor but it's about knowing my body and what I need to do for in that moment.

Current Music: Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band — Aranjuez Mon Amour

Flying To The Stars

Adventures in Space, Time, Polyamory, and Fishing

Entries tagged with self-care

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