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Lessons from within

 

Real Generosity Begins With Self-Care

“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” — Oscar Wilde

Everybody wants something from you. You’re stretched thin. Your body aches—and not from exercise. You know self-care is important, but it feels out of reach. There’s just no time.

Does this sound like your life?

These are some of the excuses I hear:

🌀 “Self-care is for the weak or the wealthy.”
🌀 “It’d be nice to take a bubble bath and wash my worries away.”
🌀 “Maybe when I retire.”
🌀 “I feel guilty doing anything just for me.”
🌀 “Self-care is selfish. It doesn’t align with a life of service.”

And yet, the statistics speak volumes:

💔 67% of people care for others before themselves
💔 33% feel guilty taking time for themselves
💔 51% of Americans feel burned out
💔 Only 30% make time for self-care

We know self-care matters. So why do we push it aside?

I get it. I’ve been there.
The first time someone told me to “take care of yourself,” I wanted to scream.

It was 1989. I was living in the desert of New Mexico with a newborn who cried endlessly, a husband in medical residency who was rarely home, and no nearby friends or family. Our marriage was unraveling. I felt alone, broke, and utterly depleted.

A therapist offered those five well-meaning words: Take care of yourself, Susan.
I paced my kitchen, furious.
“How? With what energy? With what time? A bubble bath isn’t going to fix this.”

It would take years—and many more heartbreaks—before I truly understood what self-care means.

Self-care is not a luxury. It is a deep, radical act of remembering that you matter.

Not in some Instagrammable way.
Not with red-light beds, lymphatic compression suits, or cryotherapy.
But in the quiet, sacred decision to pay attention to your needs.

In my book, I’ll take you on a journey through the darkest seasons of my life—messy, beautiful, painful, transformational. From a lonely postpartum breakdown to the heartbreak of visiting my son in jail. Through every chapter, you’ll uncover the truth:
Self-care is not about perfection. It’s about presence.

I share the Five Wellness Strategies that changed my life:

  1. Set healthy boundaries

  2. Monitor and marshal your energy

  3. Create stillness

  4. Learn the language of your body

  5. Listen to all of yourself—mind, body, heart, spirit, and emotions

This isn’t a book of tips and tricks.
It’s an invitation.

To come home to yourself.

To stop kicking the self-care can down the road.
To recognize that caring for yourself—really, deeply, truly—isn’t selfish.
It’s essential.

💥 This is not a cry for candles and massages.
💥 This is a call to self-care warriors.

If you’re ready to take up that call, I invite you to join me.

Susan GainesComment