Do you show up for yourself?

Having a day, feeling accomplished is an incredible feeling. Sticking to what said that you want to get done and not wavering. You know, showing up for yourself. Do you ever not show up for yourself? We would never not show up for a lunch date, or purposely decide to not show up at a party that we RSVP to. But, we seem to not have a problem with not doing what we said we would do for our self. You know, show up for our self. So, why do we continuously ignore things that we said we are doing for our self? Is it our mindset? Do we not have the right mindset to get going on what we said we would do? Or eat the things we said we would eat? I believe it could be part mindset. Have you had days where you are so in tuned with what you are doing and getting done what needed to be done, and it just flows? Then, there are days that we have to push through and keep telling ourselves that we need to finish. But if we have our minds set to do certain things, we can get what is important to us accomplished. We all have accomplished things knowing it needed to be done. However, I a referring to our more daily routines that get our goals accomplished such as health and exercise regimes, or educational projects, or even house chores such as cleaning out the garage. A goal that is part of a bigger picture. Our future self. We are a product of our daily habits and routines. If we stick to what we told our self what we wanted to accomplish or live by, we would be the person we wanted to be. With that being said, it could be a better mom, a giving grandmother, a healthier person, or what ever we want. It is our choice by our daily choices.

We all tend to make goals at the New Year and do great for a week. Yes, a week goes by and the goal just falls off. Lost motivation, lost our mindset, or just plain gave up. I still love the idea about how motivation fizzles but mindset is key. I do think mindset is important however, we still have days where we do not show up. And, if those days become weeks, we become use to not showing up for ourselves. But, how does this happen? Well, what I have learned is that if we let our most primal part of our brain decide what we are going to do, it will choose what uses the least amount of energy, what feels safe, and what feels comfortable. With that being said, we are probably going to eat a bag of Cheetos and sit and watch Netflix instead of cleaning the garage. Yes, the primal brain is going to talk to us in doing what always is easiest and feels good at the moment. We seem to allow our primal brain talk us into not showing up for our self. It is that simple. You can recall. Have you ever told yourself and eating so well for a week that you deserve the big ice cream cone? Or, the chips and salsa bowl three? There is no telling how many times I let my primal brain tell me I did not need to go out for a run. Too many to count. I would have every excuse in the world. But, had I been using my prefrontal cortex to override the primal brain, I would have saved myself a lot back and forth of starting and quitting. I find it interesting how often throughout the day, I find myself wanting to give in to my little animal brain lol. I catch myself saying...I know it is inviting but I will regret it and beat myself up later. I can visualize my next day complaining and having too much to get accomplished in one day since I did not show up like I had intended. What I have come to realize is just go ahead a do what is planned and it will make it all that much more enjoyable later knowing you show up for yourself. I try to think about how good I will feel tonight when cooking a dinner and knowing that I did what I intended to do. Now, I always do not get done what I set out to do, but I can say that I make the attempt. There are going to be days when something gets thrown at you that was not planned. Enormous difference. We are talking about letting our primal brain talk us in doing what feels good and not what we need to do. We need to all use that prefrontal cortex more often. No, I do not get excited about getting on the treadmill or doing my weights, but I do know that I feel so much better when it is out of the way. I make a point when I lay down at night to run through the next day list in my head and decide when I should work out. If I don’t get it out of the way early on, I might let that damn primal brain have its way. Don’t give it any attention when it comes to undesirable but important task. I remember back in the days; I would let my two little brains negotiate when I would workout, morning or night. If it was at night, the primal brain always won. I would drive home and find ever excuse in the world why I should not work out. Now, there is no discussion. I cannot let the primal brain speak LOL. There is not a conversation anymore. If there is one piece of advice that I would like to share with you from my journey with using more of my prefrontal cortex with showing up for my self is to think about the feeling afterwards. It is like passing on the fabulous dessert. Feels rotten at the time, but feels good the next day. Think about the aftereffect. Think about how good it will feel later. Clean the garage. Do the vacuuming. Finish the bills. Do what you told yourself you were going to do. Show up for yourself. I started a small routine of always washing my face, brushing my teeth, and putting on moisturizer right out of bed. Don't laugh, I found it makes me feel good and pretty 🤷‍♂️. I also find myself putting on newer T shirts and leggings to do my 5 minute yoga poses. Yes, no more holey t's. I trashed them. I want to feel good and look good for me. Sounds crazy. I found that when I am taking care of me, I also eat better, stay on my exercise routine etc. It is small but works for me. Louis has never commented about my old ratty shorts and T's but it is for me. I like to look and feel good even if I am well over fifty. Yes, I will say it...over fifty and feeling fabulous!

So, in closing, do not let that primitive part of your brain have any say with what is important to you. Maybe it is a daily walk, the gym, or staying true to healthier eating plan or maybe cleaning out that dreaded closet. Do yourself a favor and let your prefrontal cortex be the BIG BOSS. Stay more human. Use your prefrontal cortex and show up for yourself!

Have a beautiful day!🌸❤🌻