Use the following quiz to determine if you are living a self examined life.
Give yourself a point for any one of the following you do most days.
- Laugh, smile, and interact with others.
- Give of yourself or your resources in some way that feels meaningful.
- Meditate.
- Openly talk with friends, family, a therapist, or clergy.
- Do yoga, qigong, or something else physical, breath related and restorative.
- Get outside for a walk or any other conscious appreciation of nature.
- Pay attention to something sensuous: a bite of food, piece of music, bird song, water cascading in the shower, or anything else you notice and appreciate.
- Journal.
- Drink enough water.
- Get enough sleep.
- Read or watch something inspiring, beautiful or deep.
- Eat healthy, delicious plant foods.
A perfect score would be a 12. You’re not going for perfection. You’re going for awareness and consciously choosing to take the very best care of your body, mind and spirit as you possibly can. If your score is zero to 3 you might want to consider upping your game a bit. Why? So you can feel better. The lower your score the more likely you make everyone and everything else in your life a priority and put yourself last. Yet, these rejuvenating practices all make you a better, calmer, more centered soul.
What does better mean? To me, it’s authentic, congruent, flexible, confident and peaceful. For some, it might be more physically strong. Whatever your criteria, you intuitively know how you feel this minute and how you would like to feel.
The above 12 questions are merely a way to take stock and see if you’re giving yourself the gift of time. Time to take radically great care of yourself. This does not make you selfish, self-centered, narcissistic, or egotistical. On the contrary, it keeps you grounded, self aware, and healthy so you can actually give more to other people. Whether that’s as a parent, friend, sibling, daughter, volunteer, employee, employer, or community member. It can’t be said enough: when you take the very best care of yourself you have more energy for everyone else. And even more importantly, the energy you bestow on others comes from a place of open heartedness rather than depletion.
While there is nothing new or earth shattering about the above information, it’s a good idea to regularly take stock of how well you care for yourself. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the daily race from one thing to the next. Making time for radical self care is probably the best thing you can do for everyone on earth. It’s certainly the most adult choice, as keeping your body, mind, and spirit fit means you’re less of a drain on everyone else. Being responsible for yourself is the hallmark of adulthood. At the same time being grounded enough in your authentic self enables you to be inter-dependent and cooperative; clearly crucial components of an evolved, compassionate society.
Copyright Nicole S. Urdang