“I’m good at taking time out to care for others, but I’m not good at setting time aside to care for myself,” one woman lamented to me. She was a busy homemaker, and everyone in her home was well cared for, thanks to her unselfish giving and devotion to her family. But she had needs too, she realized, that needed to be met with the same kind of unselfed care she was showing to her family. It was okay, and necessary, she saw, to take time out for self-care. As she set time aside for her own care, prayer and study, she felt much better, and found it easier to care for others. Everyone was happier in the home, including herself.
Jesus Christ took time out for self-care. After spending busy days with crowds of people, listening to their troubles, answering their questions, preaching, teaching, and healing, he would exit all the commotion, find a quiet place to pray, and concentrate his attention and energies on keeping his thought in a heavenly place. He practiced the highest form of self-care—spiritual care for his thought. He knew from experience, that when one’s thought is in a good place, everything else follows in a better place too.
We can practice the same. It’s important to keep our thinking in a good place for the best results. Success requires self-care. We need to set time aside for prayer, to study and learn more about God, and to keep our thought inspired.
Like fueling a car, we don’t get far with an empty gas tank. Good self-care ensures our “gas tank” of inspiration is full and overflowing.
Be sure to love yourself—to honor your spiritual self and keep it flourishing strong and vibrant.
Practice healthy self-care. It benefits you and everyone around you.
Thank you Evan for this timely reminder. Just 2 days ago I was reminding myself to not indulge the mortal sense of self, but rather to cherish “our” Self which covers the whole of God’s Creation and blesses all.
“There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; …” S&H 588
Loving our Self is reflected in loving all ❤️
and keep it flourishing strong and vibrant.
Practice healthy self-care. It benefits you and everyone around you.
Categorized under: God, health, Jesus Christ, prayer
Tagged with: attention, consciousness, goals, trust
1 thought on “Make time for self-care”
Fay says:
September 27, 2023 at 3:10 am
Thank you Evan for this timely reminder. Just 2 days ago I was reminding myself to not indulge the mortal sense of self, but rather to cherish “our” Self which covers the whole of God’s Creation and blesses all.
“There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; …” S&H 588
Loving our Self is reflected in loving all ❤️
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*Be sure to love yourself—to honor your spiritual self
I’ve never really understood this directive to love one another as we love ourself, and this statement from Evan makes that very clear. Loving yourself is honoring your spiritual self, just as you honor the spiritual selfhood of those around you. I love this and thank you, Evan for making comfortable statements we’ve become too familiar with, perhaps. clear as day. 🙂
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MBE says, (p. 254) “The human self must be evangelized.” And in the Glossary, both the spiritual definition of “I, or Ego” and of “I Am” (p. 588) point to God as the source of all being, including each of us. How easy it is to love that! Loving God is loving your spiritual sense of identity, We reflect and express all good and can declare it daily.
I used to think the Golden Rule was “Love others MORE than yourself.” It took some years of overdoing for others to realize it says, “Love others AS yourself.”
“True self-care” by Larissa Snorek:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/142rmd3po7c?s=e
Thank you Evan. This is an important topic, as life can at times feel very overwhelming and busy. Many people deal with working, childcare issues, school activities, and may also be caring for aging parents at the same time. Self care and mental health go hand-in-hand. I enjoyed reading the inspiring article by Harriet Schupp yesterday and looked to see what else she had written. I came across a Q&A she did, “Yours is a life worth living”. It deals with many topics: suicide, depression, loneliness, discouragement, death, loss, grief, natural disasters, fear, etc. It’s on the *longer* side, and there is also an audio version.
“Yours is a life worth living” by Harriet Schupp:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/y60fzrhrdg
Thank you, J–
Truly inspiring and powerful.
How do you tune in if you’re not turned on? Pulling away, stop looking at matter, lifts all the boats higher to sail towards God directed destinations, loving the path to get there. Tuning in can and does happen at the moment one looks towards turning on their direction signal. The nudge to tune in gives one the power and the LOVE and the crystal clear understanding about all the good there is coming to each one of us to heal. Christ proves this.
Great thoughts to ponder, Evan and all. Thank you!
I think we are taught from a young age to do what we are told – follow what our
parents say, what our teachers say, what mortal higher-uppers say, for years
and years, but then when/if we become on our own, we have to learn how to think on
our own, as we may have been suppressing “me” to try to please “thee” our
whole life. But then we realize that by loving others, we really Are loving ourselves,
because they are a part of us…we are all One in God’s Love, Really.
The photo is so inspiring, thoughts portrayed … and surrounded by beautiful, lovely
plants, books and knowledge. So beautiful!
I recall when Told that a shelf dividing two rooms should be left empty, when able to
make my own decisions, went out and bought a variety of cactus, which were forbidden
before. It is a silly example, probably, but thinking on my own brought a sense of
“self care” at the time.
I randomly flipped to page #360 of the CS Hymnal this morning and these words came up:
“True the heart grows rich in giving; All its wealth is living grain;
Seeds which mildew in the garner, Scattered, fill with gold the plain.
Is thy burden hard and heavy? Do thy steps drag wearily?
Help to bear thy brother’s burden, [GOD] will bear both it and thee.”
God is there for our every need, fulfilling our every self care need.
Thank you very much Carol for your really wonderful comment. And I love the absolute Truth you stated, namely “we realize that by loving others, we really are loving ourselves, because they are a part of us – we are all ONE (in Spirit) in God’s Love, really!” Carol I agree totally with you, thanks very much for it!!♡
Thank you Evan! IT’s very important to take time to pray for ourselves. Mrs. Eddy advises us in one of her writings to do that foremost. Meanwhile I see the importance of that praying for us, and am honestly working on it!♡♡
I am also grateful for a great reading in my church this evening. It was about diverse errors which not medicine but only divine Truth, almighty God can heal totally! Wonderful!♡
One member said in her Thanksgiving this Evening that our God is the fullness and allness of all good, that’s what we all express individually! Thank you dearest God!♡
Thank you for your kind words, Uta. I love how you call the
testimonies … Thanksgiving. That is what they are … Giving
Thanks… ThanksGiving! Lovely!! Here in the US, we have a
day called Thanksgiving Day and they do in Canada as well.
Not sure if other countries have days specifically for giving
thanks… but Really, Thanksgiving is Every Day! ; )
Thanks Carol, our branch church celebrates the Thanksgiving Day on the same day as TMC does it, i.e. on the 3rd Thursday in November.
Wow it is nice how you said that about my calling it Thanksgiving. I called it the thanksgiving of our one member because it was not really a testimony on healing but rather giving thanks for God`s guidance and for all the good God gives her. For me it is just giving thanks in general. But however that is also important. Only, she says nearly the same every Wednesday.
I have loved this topic and all the beautiful and sincere responses. Also J’s link by Larissa Snorek. I do not know how to attach a link but an article I have deeply loved about finding balance between loving outreach and our sincere prayers for others and spending time defending our own thought is in an article from the August 2012 Journal called “When the Heart Yearns to Help” by Tarn Wilson. I have saved that Journal and read this article many times. It speaks of how we can be “wise helpers” for others while remembering to daily defend ourselves first. Maybe someone can attach the link or find it on JSHonline.
So grateful for all the responders who add so unselfishly and from the heart everyday.
https://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2012/8/130-08/when-the-heart-yearns-to-help
William E, regrettably Your link be opened to a degree but not totally to read the whole article. Perhaps a dear SV friend could help and send a link that opens totally, please ♡
wow, now on my big computer I could open this link from William E.
Thank you Valerie for thé article and William, helping researching,
I’m going to look for it when it’s a good time.
Also Valerie u mentioned from ur reading:
“finding balance between loving outreach and our sincere prayers for others and spending time defending our own thought “
This ties in nicely with the SV from a week or so ago titled Love Yourself, the photo that day was of someone giving themselves a big smiling hug. These are very important ideas to me. When we seem to forget what we really are and view ourselves materially we might see a bunch of “human flaws.” It’s hard to love that. There are also places in Mrs. Eddy’s writings where she warns us to avoid self-love. But Evan is talking about something very different here, about seeing our true spiritual selves through God’s eyes and loving what He loves, what He made. I look forward to growth in understanding this more and applying it. Thank you!
I know what you mean, dear Rose, about if viewing “ourselves materially, we
might see a bunch of ‘human flaws'”. In a way, that has been a bit of a struggle
for me in one way, but in another way, the spiritual way, it is not difficult
at all and I have easily overcome the falsity that matter would try to claim.
I have no trouble at all seeing Others as they spiritually are. You, for example, I
couldn’t even imagine having any flaws. Your perfection shines through! along
with everyone here! I Love all of the flawless Realities shared here. Every Truth
is like a mini-spirritual hug of Love and what could be better than that? … And
in the article J shared, Thank you J … and to elaborate on that, was written,
“…if we only are thinking of our life as what we can imagine, well, we can’t
imagine [ALL] the good that God has”. I love that… an abundance of Good
welcomes us into eternity.
Oh yes Rose, she is SMILING in Evan’s picture!
Her heart is smiling, not the
Thank you all,
Not the cheeks and lips..
Thank you Evan and all. No one can give what he /she does not have. Thank you for making us understand the spiritual view of this statement..
Thank you! This is wonderful, Evan. Thank you to all who share from the heart.
Thank you William