Are You Getting Stronger or Weaker Right Now?

I hope you're taking it easy on yourself during these trying times.

And by "easy on yourself" I mean, I hope you're doing things that strengthen you instead of weaken you.

Taking it easy on yourself doesn't mean mean giving up on what's important to you because it feels hard. It doesn't mean giving yourself a pass on getting your writing or book marketing done. 

Taking it easy on yourself doesn't mean eating a blueberry muffin as big as your face. It doesn't mean having an extra glass of wine, or three. It doesn't mean cutting back to one shower per week.

Sometimes, self-care is wrongly defined as doing whatever feels good in the moment. The problem there is that too often what feels good in the moment— the food, the alcohol, the Netflix binge—ultimately weakens us.

True self-care means doing the hard work of cultivating healthy habits and giving yourself some grace when you need it.

Taking it easy on yourself might mean...

• Going to bed earlier

• Allowing yourself extra time to complete complex tasks

• Getting all your thoughts about this pandemic down on paper so they stop spinning around in your head

• Making sure you get outdoors and get some exercise

• Getting down on the floor and doing a puzzle with your kid

• Chilling out in the hammock

• Planting a garden 

• Keeping up writing everyday but revising your word count goal down

• Limiting yourself to checking the news once per day

Try this, for the rest of the day, before you take an action, ask yourself, "Will this make me stronger or weaker?"

Then choose strength.