Recently, as some of you might know from Facebook, I’ve been a little bit all over the place. Lots of changes in my working schedule have meant a huge body-clock knock and also a bit of a change-up in how I work. This has also meant a big change in my how I choose to honour my self-care practices and myself, but here’s the thing…
…I’ve been so focused on trying to make it seem as though I’m breezing through this huge change up that my self-care practices have gone completely out the window. I’m eating at strange times, not sleeping properly and seem to have heaped a whole load of unnecessary pressure on myself. So what’s changed from how I do things normally?
My perfectionist tendencies have started to creep in again- I want to have my cake and it eat it too. I want everyone to know that I’m knocking the ball out the park, but truth be told, they really couldn’t care less. They’re got their own things to worry about.
Amongst all the struggles and things that life throw at us, we are all doing our best. Everyone. Everyone is doing their best. This doesn’t mean that your best is the same every single day. Sometimes, I cram as much in as I can and still have room for more, while at other times, all I want to do is just be alone and have nice cup of tea. Unfortunately, as a teacher, I expect others to give their best every second of each lesson as well, but in truth, they’re only human…as am I. Most of the time, I have no idea what struggles my students are facing outside of the classroom, just as we don’t know what people are facing away from that split second or few moments we spend with them.
Your best is not the same as someone else’s best. Their best fluctuates as well, so don’t compare yourself to that snapshot you have of that person on that day at that moment. You might be doing them, and yourself, a disservice.
Think about where you are being too hard on yourself and others- are your perfectionist/got-to-do-it-all tendencies impacting the way you see yourself and those around you? Are you really being fair?
At the end of the day…
Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret. – Miguel Angel Ruiz
Love and deep, deep breaths,
Katie xxx
“Amongst all the struggles and things that life throw at us, we are all just doing our best. Everyone. This doesn’t mean that your best is the same every single day.” – This has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn. To not self-compare. So huge, given what I’m capable of one week to the next can vary greatly (the chronic medical condition conundrum, you get it). Thankyou for writing about it.
Thank you Jenna- lots of love- xx
Hi Katie! It is nice to hear from you. You are so fight about always doing our best, even if are best is just being home and taking it easy. I love the Four Agreements by the way! Have a great day! XOX0 Teri
Allowing both ourselves and others to just be where they are…. that is a powerful (and challenging) gift. I think that kind of acceptance is worth striving for, though, because it frees us from judgments that invariably, in my experience, do no good. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks Katie,
so today is good day to have a good day & just simply breathe. xo
I’ve found an effective thing to say when people criticise me about my illness is “you know I’m doing the best I can!” they can’t argue with that. I’m not always so kind to myself though, so thank you for the reminder that sometimes the best you can do is simply breathe! I’m breathing
A wonderful post as usual. I keep reminding myself that I’m doing the best I can. We are so darn hard on ourselves, aren’t we? Thanks for the reminder to go easy on myself. xo