Celebrating Victories #2

Today, I’d like to celebrate the fact that I am working on the whole self-value, self-care thing.  I also have some visible victories to celebrate, and they aren’t so small.  Without further ado, this episode’s list!

1. I ordered some clothes for myself from ThreadUp!  As someone who is always looking for the best deal and is disgusted by some of the retail prices out there, being able to get myself 3 tops, 2 tanks, and jeans (plus a couple of shirts for the kiddo) and spend less than $70 was a win in so very many ways.
2. Speaking up for my needs.  In a couple of ways, just this week, I’ve stood up for what I need as I journey through this process.  Specifically, around making time for myself during the week if I need it (even if it means reducing some of my physical activity by skipping a hula class).
3. On a related note, proposing to my husband that we keep our Disney passes instead of letting them expire as planned.  Annual passes aren’t cheap, but the mental and emotional benefits for me of having that place to just exhale and feel like a kid are priceless.

   

4. Getting back to my BuJo.  Having it really helps minimize my frantic thoughts, because I can keep my to-do’s and schedule all in one place.  Every time something else pops up in my mind as a need-to-do, I write it down, since my BuJo is always with me.

   

5. I was trying to find a fancy way to say it, but, let’s keep it simple.  We bought me a new laptop!  My last one was purchased at another rough point in my life, but that point in my life was 8 ½ years ago.  My inner frugal self assumed that the old laptop would live forever, and was disappointed when the eject button for the optical drive stopped working, but I worked around it with an unbent paper clip until it stopped recognizing the battery.  Then I just used my work laptop.  With starting the blog, and wanting to write more, I finally bit the bullet and bought a laptop.  The actual ordering and getting of the laptop was its own ordeal (and may become its own post), but I have the laptop, and it feels great.  I’ve even downloaded the first of what may become several games for decompression time (SimCity 4, if you were wondering).
6. Last, but not least.  In fact, this is the biggest victory (in my mind) over the past month:  making some space for myself.  Up until a week and a half ago, I was using a very small writing desk as a space to do my makeup, nails and theoretically to write in my journal.  It was tiny.  It was always cluttered.  Because of the size, I inevitably ended up trying to write in my journal and do my computer work at the dining table (and inevitably ended up distracted by Netflix on the TV).  So, after a trip to Ikea, I now have a larger desk in the same place in our room as the tiny writing desk had been, with enough space to store and do makeup or pull out a journal and/or my laptop to get some writing (or decompression) done.  Not just that, but I bought some cute paper lantern-style lights, matching magnets and a calming bubbling timer thing from Daiso to help make the corner my own.  I’ve also put up some handouts from my therapist on the magnetic whiteboard that is built into the desk (and added some inspiration, and a semicolon), and my sweet hubby installed some LED lights over the main work area to make the lighting more conducive to both makeup and working in general.

While speaking up for my needs in certain arenas is not new to me, realizing that I am worth new things, acknowledging that I am important enough to have space, important enough to have a new desk and new computer was a really big step.  I’ve gotten used to putting others ahead of myself, but I also need to take care of myself.  There’s still so very far to go, but, today, I’m celebrating the wins.

What victories have you had recently?  Have you made steps in your own self-care, or in realizing your own worthiness of self-care?