Affirmation: “I have balance within me.”
Journal Prompt:
How can I celebrate myself more?
Self-Care Ritual:
Have you ever enjoyed the thrill of watching a child take their first steps? As a momma, auntie, and gammie, I’ve seen it many times. Each occurrence is still so exciting!
You see the little kiddo, standing on their own. They’re mustering their courage. And as the adult, you know what’s around the corner for them, so you’re likely adding fuel to their energy frenzy, with cheers of encouragement.
And suddenly,
they wobble,
they teeter;
one little foot lifts,
they lean the opposite direction,
and now you’re holding your breath.
Your cheers are silent now, as you watch and wait…
That first foot goes down,
they teeter the other way,
their other foot lifts up,
and down it goes too,
and with a burst of excitement their of!
Their feet begin alternating,
apparently without effort,
and in the blink of an eye,
they’re across the floor,
having taken several steps on their own!
We cheer, and laugh, and maybe cry a little. And the child is elated, knowing they’ve elicited such a response. So now, they want to do it more, and garner that praise and adoration.
What sometimes happens though, once those first steps take place, is that we forget how special it really was.
We forget how long it took to reach the walking milestone.
We forget all the milestones that came along, on the way to walking.
There was this tiny newborn, who needed everything done for them. And then they could hold their own head up, and rolling over became the goal.
And once that was accomplished, there came the hands and knees rocking, and the commando crawling, and then hands & knees crawling.
And once those were mastered, baby could get to the table, or the sofa, and pulling up to stand was the new task. I can recall that moment vividly with my oldest child, and it still brings a catch to my throat, seeing it in my mind.
Then, once they were upright, came learning to stand alone.
And all of them had to be mastered, before those first steps could be taken.
And there are many others that come after it too, like running, and talking, and school, and the list goes on and on. And before long, we’re get caught up in all the other markers of progress.
We grow older, more bogged down in the trials and tribulations of living. And we start to get anxious about not doing it all perfectly. We get a bit hard around the edges, and start to feel like progress isn’t even begin made.
We need to step back, and remember just how much work went in to learning to walk in the first place. And how even once we were walking, we weren’t super stable at first, let alone running. That skill didn’t come for a bit longer.
We need to find a way back to where we celebrate every baby step we take, as a major milestone. Or at the very least, as the forward progress those steps truly are.
So here is your ritual for the day –
Go through your journaling, and select a few of the ways you can celebrate yourself, and make a plan to do them! Make the time to stop, smell the roses, and celebrate just how hard you’ve worked to be walking at all!!!
Love & light to you!!!
Tara
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