Week of Me

Last week was my self-proclaimed "Week of Me." I was coming off my final week of classes and felt very stretched, so I decided that the next week would be a "Week of Me." Mostly, it was a way to get me through that hard final week of class - I kept telling myself to hold on because my Week of Me was coming. But, of course, a promise to ourselves is only motivating if we can trust ourselves to keep it, and keep it I did! 

During the preceding week, I made a list of all sorts of things I thought would feel good or exciting or nurturing. Every time I thought of something I wished I was doing instead of slogging through that final paper, I added it to the list. And I'll tell you, it felt so good to add things to a "Week of Me" list rather than just pushing those desires aside because I had to study.

My goal during my Week of Me was to do ten things from my list. I didn't have to do them all (this was about freedom, not burden), and I was ready to hit the week with a list chock full of things that would feel rejuvenating. 

Here's what I learned:

1. Whether or not something qualified for "Week of Me" was totally subjective. There were plenty of things on the list that would look to anybody else like soul-sucking chores. But I thought they would feel sweet to do, so they made the list. Honestly, with many of these things, if I told myself I "had" to do them, they would have felt depleting, but since I told myself I "got" to do them, they felt like kindnesses. This isn't just a brain hack; it really did feel different when I put something on the list and thought about how it would feel good to do it.
2. Knowing that I had a "Week of Me" coming sustained me through my final week of class. It felt motivating and kind that I had healing time coming.
3. It was really important to me that I kept this promise to myself. I take the commitments I make to others very seriously, but sometimes it's easy to let commitments to myself slide. Lately, I've been working to carefully consider and then purposefully follow through with commitments to myself. I'm worth it. If I were going to promise this week to myself, then I was going to take it. 

It was a lovely experiment, and I'm still ticking things off the list because those things still seem like kindnesses to myself. Except for climbing Mt. Timpanogos... I don't know who I think I'm being kind to with that one...