May - Giving to Yourself

Hi Everyone!

This month, I wanted to talk about giving to yourself.

Although this blog was set up with the intention to inspire and motivate myself and others to give to individuals or charities as an act of giving, otherwise known as a 'good deed.' Recently I have been thinking about the need to continually give to others, as well as yourself. Now, I haven't invested in this idea so much to the extent of buying myself lavish items every couple of days and refusing to share anything that I class as 'mine.' But I am starting to realise that acknowledgement for your own needs, is definitely as important as acknowledgement for others.

When it comes to yourself, I think it is important to realise that there is a huge difference between being selfish, and being fair. Every once in a while, I think it is important to remember to give to yourself. Whether it be space, time, attention, focus, compliments, honesty. Whatever problem or issue you may be experiencing, someone else in your life will more than likely experience that same thing in the future. So take the time to give yourself all of these things, in order to be able to 'give better' in the future. Allowing yourself to be as honest with yourself as possible allows you to realise just how much knowledge and understanding you can offer someone else.

'It is important to be there, but not to be left waiting.' Giving someone your time and attention, and offering yourself to them as someone they can count on or talk to is incredible. But remember to set boundaries for yourself as a 'giver' to that person, not on their countability on you. Giving too much of yourself to someone can leave you feeling as if they have robbed you of everything that you were, when really you just gave them all of yourself, and left none for you. Knowing how to give is something I have always struggled with, but is something that keeps you balanced. By doing this, you are not 'limiting your kindness', you are being responsible as a 'giver' to someone who may be dealing with something that does not allow them to think about this factor in the situation.

Whenever I experience something that makes me feel 'less-capable' than my 'normal' self, I tend to doubt myself. I think " Because I feel like this, I can't possibly help someone who feels the same, I don't even know how to deal with it myself."But I have come to realise that sometimes just giving someone the knowledge that you are 'in the same boat' is enough to bring them some comfort. You will not know how to deal with everything that happens in your life, nor do you have to put pressure on yourself to deal with everything that happens in your life.

I realise that when creating this post, I may have written each paragraph with some type of 'knowledgable aura.' Things that others will read assuming I have it 'all worked out.' I don't. I am learning about how to become a better 'giver' too, starting with giving to myself.

Kizzy :)