After a stressful day or week, you want to do something for yourself. Two of the easiest choices are food and online streaming. You may order ice cream or pizza as a celebration of completing a hard day’s work, or you can opt to roll over your bed after a hectic week and enjoy a TV series marathon, or both. All may seem like activities for ‘self-care’ until the results of over-indulgence manifest themselves the following days.
You feel bloated and heavy. Your body is harder to motivate to get active than usual. After giving in to the curiosities promoted by the ending of each episode, the next thing you know is that you lack sleep and have headaches. In short, you become unhealthy, and your so-called ‘self-care’ turns out to be ‘self-sabotage’.
How did such things happen? It just did, and it all started with your decision on what activity you think is for caring for yourself. Some things are tempting to over-indulge, and one thing can quickly lead to another. Not to forget, a visit to a bar followed by a single round of alcoholic drinks is considered by a lot of people as ‘unwinding’. That produces unhealthy results too.
The keynote to ‘self-sabotage’ is to select an activity that makes you relax, relieves stress, and, most of all, keeps you healthy. There can be many ways to do that. You can treat yourself to a massage from a spa salon or visit a nearby park.
You can take it up to a notch by starting the day with a healthy smoothie, practicing yoga, biking in the neighborhood, or go on trekking. Or you can keep a low profile by reading a book, writing a journal, or drawing what interests you. As long as your body and mind are soothed, and no negative consequences are incurred, you are saving yourself from sabotage.
