Sunday Post #1

Sunday Self-Care

I'm back! Sorry for missing some posts this past month. With school and work ramping up as fall begins, it was hard to find time to write. My fiancée and therapist both told me multiple times that I needed to find time for myself. But it was difficult to do. I kept prioritizing other things that felt more important, rather than prioritizing my own well-being.

It didn't help that I had no time off. Work and classes during the week, followed by occasional work or school events on Saturdays, leading to Sundays packed with errands and tasks before starting it all over again. If I was lucky, I'd have an hour to do what I wanted—which usually meant something mindless like sitting on the couch watching a game.

I'm sure at some point I'll write more about setting boundaries between work and personal life, and maybe some of the reasons why I have trouble slowing down. But this is my first Sunday Post. My intention isn't to do a deep dive into a topic. Rather, it's a reminder to take care of yourself before the start of a new week.

If you'd asked me three years ago how I felt about Sundays, I would've told you it was the worst day of the week. I usually spent the day recovering from a night out, laying in bed all day as my body hated me for going overboard with alcohol and staying up late. Around 3 or 4pm, the anxiety would hit as I began wondering what had happened the night before while simultaneously worrying about the work week ahead. The only thing that made me feel better was a glass of cold water, maybe a soda or something bubbly (non-alcoholic) to ease my stomach, and watching a comedy to lift my spirits. (I had a phase where romantic comedies did the trick too.)

However, at some point that changes. Around two years ago, Sundays became a day I actually looked forward to—once I realized I could use that time wisely. My routine consisted of a morning run (at my best, I could run a 5K in less than 30 minutes) and picking up coffee afterwards. After showering and making a quick breakfast, I'd run any errands I had left until 1pm or so. After 1pm, I made sure to stay inside and rest.

See, it took me a while to realize how important self-care is. What began as a way to recover from hangover-induced anxiety—my Sunday evening routine of cold water and comedies—eventually became a normal Sunday evening regardless of what had happened on Friday or Saturday. And self-care was no longer reserved for just the evenings. Sure, the scaries still hit from time to time. But rarely was it due to having a long night out or too many drinks. More often than not, it was because there were things on my weekend to-do list that I didn't get to before the week started. And most of the time, those to-do items were actually self-care.

Truth is, my life has changed a lot since those days. I don't have the same time as I used to. But also, I forgot how to prioritize myself. My people-pleasing (which I'll cover another time) set me on a course toward high stress and little rest.

But I want to get back to it. And I hope you all can hold me accountable too. It's too easy to get lost in our to-do lists and weekly stress that we begin to lose ourselves and the moments we enjoy—even if they're simply waking up in the morning and getting your favorite coffee.