Think about all the people you love the most. If you can, make a list of five people you think highly of. Then think of a strength of each of them and a weakness. After you do this, answer: among these people, did you think of yourself? In a defect and in a quality of yours?
We usually pay more attention to the people around us or those we love deeply. We rarely take the time to look at who we are, to think about our flaws and our strengths. Sometimes we even forget to take care of our body and mind.
Self-knowledge, therefore, is a way to discover more about the most important person in your life: you. It is an exercise to pay more attention to yourself, to reflect on your traumas, your fears, your desires and everything that makes you happy. It is not an easy process, but the results will be long lasting and very beneficial for you.
Self-care emerges as an aspect of self-knowledge. Once you know yourself, know who you are and what you seek, you must learn to take care of your body and mind, to ensure that your goals will be achieved more easily. This process is not just a skin care routine. In fact, it is an effort to do even activities that are not pleasurable but essential to your well-being, such as therapy or annual medical checkups.
Why are self-knowledge and self-care important?
Maybe you believe that you don't need self-knowledge to be a person who lives at peace with you or who knows what's best for you. In this case, it is possible that you already practice self-knowledge without realizing it. This process is an observation and analysis of our attitudes, our desires and our feelings. It's not something that happens once in a while, it's a process of evolution.
To understand a little better about the importance of dedicating yourself to self-knowledge, imagine the following situation: you are a person who hates zucchini, however, every day of your life, you open the lunch box and see that this food is there. You don't feel good eating it and you hope it ends soon, but you can't help but accept it as your meal.
Making a parallel, you may be in a relationship, a job or a course that doesn't do you any good, that doesn't bring you any satisfaction, but you accept this reality because you never stopped to think about how it harms you, and how you could be enjoying life otherwise.
Self-knowledge is like an awakening to yourself. You will need to understand what is hurting you and what you think will make you a better and happier person, and none of this will be easy. You will probably have to give up elements that are part of your routine, you will need to cut off contact with people who don't add good things to you. You can imagine that this process will be doing you harm, but the bad feelings will be fleeting.
Over time, you will be more true to your essence. You will understand what your limits, your dreams and your problems are. You will know what behaviors you have that you need to change, you will understand what you need to do to achieve your true goals, free from other people's expectations.
Self-care, in another sense, is also of paramount importance to a person's well-being. We often give up taking care of our physical and mental health because we always believe we have something more important to do. Resolve work issues, study, take care of the family, travel. It is difficult to understand self-care as a priority.
The natural way for a person should be to understand that he will not have a good quality of life if he has health problems, whether physical or mental. We postpone routine medical exams, keep traumas inside us and wait until the situation reaches the limit to finally seek medical help.
If you had a car, would you prefer to do annual inspections, to identify possible problems and solve them as soon as possible, or would you wait until the vehicle stops moving to understand what is happening? While this comparison is overly simplified, it is an example of how our bodies work. Annual medical exams and monthly psychological follow-up can prevent us from reaching our extremes, which would make any treatment difficult.
In addition, it is important that we pay attention to the environment in which we operate. Is this environment doing good for our health? Are we taking good care of this place so that it is welcoming and healthy? Look at the items around you and think about how you relate to them in your everyday life.
To make self-care a priority, you can pretend to be a person you love very much. You would like this person to take every precaution to prevent some severe problem from being discovered in advance, wouldn't you? And why couldn't the same be true for you? Reflect on this question!
How to practice self-knowledge and self-care?
Once you understand the importance of developing self-knowledge and self-care, check out, below, some ways to apply these two ways of knowing yourself and preserving yourself!
1) Get therapy
It is common for people to believe that therapy is something that only applies to those who have a mental illness. But that's not true. Therapy allows a person to learn more about themselves, learn to deal with their problems better and be able to act with determination in the most varied situations. It's for everyone!
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2) Find some belief
If you don't have a religion or belief, it might be a good idea to look for something to believe in. Many people use Astrology and Numerology as self-discovery processes, and these two techniques may be ideal for you. Give it a chance to learn more about yourself!
3) Practice meditation
Meditation is one of the ways to reflect on who we are and what we are looking for, as well as being used as a relaxation technique. In this sense, you can practice meditation as both self-knowledge and self-care. Just take the time to look inside!
4) Conduct annual medical checkups
Annual medical exams should be performed by people of all ages. With a Unified Health System, free, but very scrapped, it can be difficult to meet this demand of our bodies. However, we need to make an effort to watch our health and take care of it as much as possible.
5) Understand what you are eating
Consciously eating is a gesture of affection, care and love for your body. Don't eat just to survive, eat to be a healthy person who enjoys tasting food. Research the origin of what you consume, understand the composition of each food. And then make the necessary changes!
6) Know what you are applying to your body
Instead of following trends when it comes to taking care of your body, pay attention to the labels on the products you use. Do the creams, makeup and clothes you use every day have something in their compositions that can harm you? Do you really know this product or have you been carried away by positive comments from other people about it?
7) Know your goals
Knowing your goals is essential to define your life plan. Do you want to have a loving family, a dream job, travel a lot, acquire some material possessions or something else? Think about yourself, about your true desires. Make them explicit in your mind and see how you can reach each one.
8) Understand what makes you uncomfortable
If you are in an environment and you feel that something is not right, it is likely that you have found yourself in an uncomfortable situation or an environment that is not good for you. Don't ignore the signals your mind and body send you. As soon as you feel that something is hurting you, avoid doing it again and speak the truth if asked about it.
9) Free yourself from what hurts you
You know that relationship or situation that makes you feel more bad than good? Take a deep breath, take courage and let it go. There are countless other possibilities waiting for you, and your life can be better than you think if you have the courage to escape comfort and seek true happiness.
10) Don't give up!
In many moments, you will realize that developing your own self-knowledge and practicing self-care is tiring and, at times, painful. But don't give up! Be aware that these processes will lead you to a better life, even if you need to step out of your comfort zone to do so.
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Exercising self-knowledge and self-care is the greatest good you will do for yourself. Don't be afraid to explore yourself, recognize yourself and understand who you really are. Encourage others to do these processes so that you have a company when it comes time to share all your advances!
