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The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they’ve craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! This post is part of The Declaration of You’s BlogLovin’ Tour, which I’m thrilled to participate in alongside over 100 other creative bloggers. Learn more  and  join us!

The Declaration of You website has all the information on how you can share your own posts, join Facebook parties and so much more! Declare yourself! This Friday, June 28th, you can join us in the Facebook comment party at 12-12:30 pm EST. I’ll be there!

Loving You

When we look at a newborn, we can’t help but be in awe of a fresh, new being. You don’t have to be a parent to feel the wonder that holding an infant brings. So often we hear “What a miracle!” in reference to birth.  A newborn child IS a MIRACLE. Created in love, nurtured with love, welcomed with loving arms.

Stop a moment, and do this for me. Take a look at your hands. Think about what a miracle they are. I am pretty sure you don’t know this, (I didn’t until I looked it up) but one of your hands has roughly:

• 29 bones
• 29 major joints
• 123 named ligaments
• 34 muscles
• 48 nerves
• 30 arteries, and about as many smaller arterial branches 

Isn’t that amazing? OK, seriously, I probably won’t remember all of those numbers much past editing this post. But I took a look at my hands, and I am sitting here thinking, “How can all that stuff fit?”  My hands are small, child sized. And I have arthritis. I was diagnosed with Lupus in 2008, and the pain in my joints was one of the first symptoms. When I told the doctor what I did for a living, (worked on a computer all day long) she could not believe I was still able to function. She was in awe.

I am not tooting my horn here, there is a point to this. But yeah, I have to say, that is one of the things I can take pride in. My perseverance.

Wow, that made me tear up a little. Why was that so hard to … put to paper. Maybe I am remembering what a struggle each day was for me. Maybe it is because… I am pretty sure that is the first time I have ever used that word to describe myself. Or maybe it is hard for me to say I am proud of myself. Hmm…

There are quite a few things about myself I can be proud of. But I don’t usually tell other people about them. How ‘bout you? When was the last time you told someone you were proud of yourself for…anything? When was the last time you told YOU? How long has it been since you were kind to yourself?

Ok so back to the hand thing. Did you stop for a minute, really, and look at your amazing, miraculous hands? That’s OK, go ahead, I’ll wait.

When do we stop thinking of ourselves as the TRUE MIRACLE we are? And why?

When a child is born, we make sure that he has every need met. We protect him. We make sure he has nutritious food. We play with him so he can learn to use his fingers and toes, learn to walk, and grow strong. We talk to him and read him stories, so he can learn language. We make sure he gets enough rest. We make sure he sees the dentist, and the doctor regularly. We care for him, in every way we can.

As adults, we have so many responsibilities. So many to take care of. Wife, husband, children, parents, sister, brother, grandmother, dog, cat… gerbil. The house, the job, the BOSS, the car, the laundry. The bills. We can hardly find room on the list to add “go for a walk, read a book, ” much less find time to actually do it.

Honestly, right now, I am sort of failing at this. I am doing for others. And I WANT to do for others. But what I could really use is some quiet time. And by quiet I mean not thinking about the fifty bazillion things I need to get done. Quiet in my head. So I am declaring now, that I am going to shut off the computer tonight. I am NOT going to stay up late to work. No TV. I am going to put on some mellow music, maybe give myself a pedi and a foot rub, or read a magazine. And I am going to go to bed early. I may fail again tomorrow, in the self-care category, but I am going to try for an A+ tonight. And my hope for you, is that sometime today, or this weekend, YOU will remember to carve a little chunk of time out for YOURSELF.

What’s your personal declaration around self-care? How often do you make time for self-care? I would love to hear how you incorporate self-care into your busy life!

Most people do not know what Lupus is. If you are interested in learning more you can check these out. What Women Need to Know about Lupus. Lupus symptoms.