How do you make time for self-care?

For most of my life, I didn’t make time for self-care at all. My life was an emotional roller coaster filled with instability, severe depression, and repeated admissions to psychiatric hospitals.

Looking back, I can see that I didn’t believe I was worth caring for. I was filled with self-hatred, and my life reflected that. It took years of challenging the messages I was raised with and learning to become my own best friend instead of my own worst enemy.

At 48 years old, I am finally choosing self-respect over self-loathing, and that decision has changed everything.

Today, self-care is not something I squeeze in when I have extra time. It is the foundation I build my life on. I make time for bubble baths, herbal tea, music, writing, journaling, artwork, and meditation.

Those simple practices may not seem extraordinary, but they have been lifesaving for me. They help me slow down, listen to myself, and give myself the care I once thought I didn’t deserve. The results have been remarkable.

I have not been admitted to a psychiatric hospital in nine years, after previously experiencing multiple admissions every year. Going from a life of constant crisis to one of stability is something I once would have thought possible.