HAVE YOU
LOVED
YOURSELF
LATELY?
BY TAMI MCCARTHY
B
ehind every successful woman is... a badass
self-care ritual.
It took me a long time to learn this, and to
put myself first. Let me clarify that: it took me a
long time to really and truly understand that I am
a priority in my own life. Infrequent trips to a spa
and once or twice a year vacations were not enough
to sustain me, or recharge me. I had to make selfcare a daily practice. But it had to be easy, and
doable no matter how busy I was.
Becoming a successful entrepreneur has brought
many valuable and hard lessons. As a wife, Mom,
passionate creative with many interests, I had a
To-do list a mile long, but didn’t have many role
models. Yet, I firmly believe that mothers do not
have to sacrifice who they are in order to be good
mothers. That road is sometimes harder and lonelier, but also worth it for everyone involved. It’s
become a hard truth in our society, that exhaustion
and busyness are badges of honor that we flaunt,
only to lead to stress and burnout.
31
Did you ever notice that we make sure our beloved
smartphones are recharged, but yet let our own
bodies run completely depleted for days? Women
need to nurture themselves – emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally. I am one of those
reformed crazy-busy people – I had fallen into the
trap that I as long as I was taking care of everyone
else, I was fine. That’s just self-abuse, and I needed to make changes. Taking care of my family and
being “successful” was causing me to compromise
my own health.
In our quest to “do-it-all,” we forget the issues
that arise from self-neglect are real. Studies have
shown that women, who exercise regularly, eat
right, get sufficient sleep and find satisfaction in
their work and personal lives have less depression,
anxiety, and illnesses, such as heart disease. But
if you are like me: I was all too guilty of using the
wee hours of the night to get more stuff done when
the house was quiet, and I knew I