Why We Must Give to Ourselves

I wanted to say something about why I feel its important to give to yourself everyday. You may already see reasons, but I want to clarify a few things.

First, I should again be clear that this gift to yourself is not necessarily a material gift, not a new shirt just for the fun of it, but something that contributes to your overall well being, your betterment. Why I see the importance of this daily gift comes from a time in my life 2 years back when I was dealing with some difficult issues and became very ill. In order to get better, I did a lot of searching for myself and took time off in order to take care of my mind and body and become a healthy person that would stay healthy. Some days, I would sleep almost the whole day. Other days I would do more. But every day I was recovering, I made a point to do one thing for myself every day, one thing that would help me and humble me at the same time. Most of the time, this one thing ended up being yoga. Yoga helped me think outside of myself, out of my own problems, and find a peace with my body and mind in this world. It helped quiet me. And as I was doing it, I became healthier, physically and mentally. Some days were harder than others to get myself moving and do this one thing, others I was excited to. But once I was doing it, I always felt the same sense of healing and peace.

I hope you wil consider the power of giving to yourself, and discover how it can be simultaneously fulfilling and humbling. Please share with me your journey!

Prayer as Gifts

So now I'm behind a day on my blogging...so I will start off first by saying what I did yesterday. My gift to someone else was a prayer, a prayer I prayed out loud to God. I'm finding that when I pray out loud, things are clearer, and I feel more meaning in my own words. Does that make sense? I also prayed for myself. That was my gift for myself.

Today, my gifts were the same as yesterday's. I prayed both for myself, and for someone I love so much. Although I'm going to try and expand my giving, I'm seeing how incredible daily prayer is, and how powerful it is to pray out loud. It separates what you want to say and ask from the constant run-ons in your mind. Gives you a chance to hear clearly what it is you are saying to God.

I know my blogging has been short recently, but I'll expand soon. I've been busy and finding time to write is difficult, as I want my writings to be honest and that takes peace and time. If you are on a giving journey, please share with me!

Bettermint Beginnings

I would first like to start by giving my gratitude for stopping by my new site devoted to self betterment through selflessness and positive self-giving. I have decided to give myself the challenge of making myself a better person by giving one thing selflessly to another each day, and by doing one thing for myself every day. Now to be clear, the thing for myself must be something healthy (either healthy for my physical self or my mental self) that contributes to my personal betterment as a person. This could be something as simple as going for a calming walk, going on a jog, teaching myself how to cook something new and healthy, or even learning something new about how to make the world a better place, perhaps by reading an article or watching a documentary. The thing I do for others is something selfless and can be for a stranger, a friend, a member of my family, my boyfriend, anyone as long as it is a gift in someway. The idea of giving came from the 29-Day Giving Challenge, founded by Cami Walker, which you yourself can go and sign up for at http://www.29gifts.org. I just signed up!

To start off my new journey, I began the day by doing some light yoga, stretching myself and letting my circulation get revved up for the wonderful day ahead of me. I felt lean and peaceful when I was finished - a great gift to myself!

The thing I gave to someone else today was a phone call to a friend I haven't seen in a while who lives in New York City. I ended up leaving a message, but told her I loved her and that I hoped she would have a wonderful day. A little gift, but I know it would make her smile!

And thus my self-challenge begins and I am so excited! Tomorrow I will post my list of goals for the year and how I plan to accomplish each one. I hope people will share things they do for others and take the 29 day challenge of Giving with me!

Love&Peace