By: Ashley Ward
As the Christmas season approaches, it always brings me back to when I was a small child and my grandmother and my father taught me, “It is better to give than to receive.”
As I grew older and older, and maturity sank it, I truly learned to understand this concept. I truly feel that our happiness and sense of purpose and fulfilment comes from giving. Not only to those we love, but also to strangers, to members of the community, to non-profit organizations, and to the Universe in general. I truly found a sense of gratitude for my own life and the blessings I have by serving and giving to others.
But, then after giving and giving, of both my time and money and energy, I found myself exhausted. Burned out. And, maybe just a little ‘depressed’.
That’s when I learned, that we can’t give to others what we don’t have or what we don’t give to ourselves first. I can’t give love, if I don’t love myself first. I can’t give my time if I don’t put time into my own growth and development first. I can’t be the best version of myself possible, if I don’t learn to put my self-care at the forefront.
Now, before the verbal attacks of “selfishness” start, let me explain a little bit more.
Most of us have heard the old saying, “You can’t pour from an empty cup. So, make sure you fill your cup up first.”
For me, I needed to learn about self-care. I was leading bible studies at my church, doing the Sunday school thing, working a full-time job, working a part time job, active in different organizations in the community, volunteering at my children’s school, doing different counselling sessions on the side, and helping to lead people closer to God in between.
Then bam…. break down.
After taking a few months off from everything except my full-time job, I realized that the problem was that I was serving everyone else, except myself. And, again, I know the backlash of the “selfishness” we all feel from taking any time out for ourselves. But, we have to come to terms with the fact that this is a necessity. Not a pleasure thing.
I can tell you once I learned about “receiving” for myself, either from myself or from others, my outlook and my stress levels drastically changed. Being open to ‘receiving’ is a super hard task. Especially for mothers.
Life shouldn’t have to be constant battle of selfishness vs serving/giving. We need to be humble and come to terms with the fact that we just can’t do it all. And, we can’t do it from a level of pure exhaustion. When we stop and open ourselves us to the true value of self-care, this helps us reach a level of balance and nourishment and peace. Isn’t that we all want anyone? We are all spinning our wheels and over-glorifying the fact that being “busy” must mean we are successful. But, what it means, is that we’ve lost our peace. Our joy. And I can’t think of a better season to take back our peace and joy.
I’ve learned that I’m a better mother when I do yoga or mediation or exercise and when I eat healthy nutrient rich foods. I’ve learn that when I find balance in my life, I can serve the world with a cheerful heart. I truly am just a better all-around person when I take care of myself first.
The holidays are one of the hardest times for us to remember this balance. We want to make the holidays perfect for our kids, we want to put on a spread for our family, we run all over town trying to find the perfect presents for those we love. But, most of us never stop and ask “What do I need?”
Well, the team at Life Source has your back this year. We want to personally invite the ladies who are constantly giving to others and constantly being pulled in 50 different directions to join us on December 1st from 6:30-8:30 pm for a special “Ladies Night” event. This evening is a time of relaxation, rejuvenation and to restore balance to your busy schedule.
A few highlights of the event: Wine Styles will be presenting a wine tasting, Panche Spa will be offering shoulder or hand massages, Prevu Salon will be here to put a little style in your hair, Mary Kay will help to give you a little holiday glow, Evolve Paleo has a fantastic juice sampling they will be bringing along, and to top it all off, Mrs Hallie from Hallie Clare Photography will be on hand to take photos of you and your friends so you can have the memories of a wonderful relaxing evening as a keep sake. As an added bonus, we are also having a raffle and giving away lots of cool items that you can keep for yourself or give away as a Christmas gift. A few of the items that we are giving away: 1 float at Omaha Float Spa, a pass for your yoga practice to Karma Yoga, Wine from WineStyles, Supplements from Designs for Health, a Massage to Panche Spa, Essential Oils, Nutrition Counselling, and so much more!
The cost of this ladies night, you ask?? It’s FREE. However, we are asking for a $5 donation to save your spot and the donation will be going to the Siena Francis House.
We look forward to seeing all the ladies at this wonderful event. We only have 30 spots available. So call the office at 402-934-4220 or email [email protected] ASAP to reserve your spot!
To wrap things up, I want to go back to the title of this post. I truly feel it’s better to give than to receive. But, I also know I can’t give what I do not have. So, try and schedule a little “me” time in this holiday season so that we can help give back to this world and those that are less fortunate with a full and cheerful heart.
