Show Up and Show Out!

Hello Good People! Happy Black History Month and Love Month for all the lovers. I am hopeful for good and chill vibes after the anxiety of January. 2021 came in hot, but we are still here which means we have more chances to make life great. One way we can make life great is to figure out what it means to show up for ourselves.

"Showing up for yourself in the ultimate sense means you have to make choices that honor your emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs as they arise."

If you follow my IG @selfworkwithjess you know I selected discipline for my word this year. Officially selecting that word came with some major wrestling with my relationship with discipline and why it was needed in my life. I really had/have to deal with my ego. There were moments I felt my inner child respond with “I can do what I want.” But my mature adult self came back with “You can but is that what is best for you?” At the end of the day I decided to challenge my inner child and be the mature adult. And here I am reinventing the word discipline for myself. In doing so I have learned that the word discipline isn’t really that bad.

My money is still mine, I just don’t spend it on as much Uber Eats and I have a budget. My time is still mine, I just manage it better with actually being intentional about being productive and less time aimlessly scrolling through Instagram. My body is still mine, I just choose to treat it well by putting good things into it and moving it daily. Discipline isn’t all bad. The number one thing I have learned as I have done my best to put this word into practice this year is showing up for myself. Discipline has made me find ways to show up for myself. How do you feel when others show up for you? I know I feel really good. I feel special. Sometimes showing up looks like people actually showing up for an event that is important to you like a graduation or an anniversary. Sometimes showing up looks like someone taking the time to talk to you during a difficult time. It feels good to be considered, seen, cared about, loved, and all of the above. But what does it look like for you to show up for yourself? What does it look like for you to consider, see, care, and love yourself? Living out your word and setting intentions around it is definitely one way to do those things. I believe that showing up for ourselves helps us to have the energy we need to show up for others and the things that are important to us. If we truly value and love ourselves enough to show up for ourselves in the ways that we need, it helps us to know and understand our value and our worth and it also helps us to be more self aware.

In my health and wellness training I was introduced to the 8 Dimensions of Wellness which are listed below.

~Emotional / Mental

~Environmental

~Financial

~Intellectual

~Occupational

~Physical

~Social

~Spiritual

The thought is every dimension comes together to create whole and optimal wellness. I enjoy this wellness model because there is nothing vague about it. I can go down the list and evaluate where I am in each area. Something I would encourage you to do is ask yourself 2 questions.

1. How am I showing up for myself in each area of wellness? Go down the list and ask yourself out loud, “How I am showing up for myself emotionally/mentally?”

2. How am I practicing my word for 2021 in each area of wellness? (I.e. How am I practicing discipline emotionally/mentally?) The answer to that question may be, “I am actively seeing my therapist two times a month. I am letting go of friendships and relationships that no longer serve me. I am challenging negative thoughts with positive thoughts.”

Ask yourself those questions often. It will become a practice and help you to understand the areas in which you are rocking it out (I wholeheartedly believe in celebrating successes) and the areas that are challenging to evaluate what you can to be better. Sometimes that may look like needing accountability or reevaluating your process.

Self love is the best love

As we live out this month, I hope you choose to practice self-love by keeping your commitments to yourself, continue to find ways to live your your word daily, and enjoy this beautiful ride. La vita e bella!