3 Little Gifts to Get Yourself Without Breaking Your Budget
Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 6:00 AM | Leave Comment
Recent events have turned the hustle and bustle of ordinary life into something truly crazy.
If you’re struggling with worry, exhaustion, or uncertainty, taking a little break with a small treat, just for you, can serve to calm your heart and relax your mind.
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Brain Break
Put away thoughts and worries about the future with a fun brain break. Treat yourself to a coloring book and a box of bright markers or colored pens. If coloring stresses you out, invest in a journal, and write down every kindness you see in one day. Refer back to this when things feel mean-spirited.
Puzzles, especially simple puzzles you can complete in just a few minutes, can also free your mind from the worry loop. If you’re a wordsmith, try crosswords or word search puzzles. For the competitive sort, sign up for Words with Friends.
If you prefer numbers, Sudoku is king! You can also find number search puzzles and logic puzzles to capture your interest and pull your brain away from stressful thoughts. To really dig into these, set a timer for 10 minutes and allow nothing else to interrupt your play. Setting a timer frees you up from having to check the time. Lose yourself in a simple puzzle so your creative brain can recharge. You may even find that solutions to serious problems will pop up after you do puzzles for ten minutes.
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Skincare
Hand sanitizers got your skin rough and raw? Treat yourself to a small tube of excellent lotion, loaded with a scent that will lift your spirits, such as lavender or peppermint. Keep this lotion on your person and run it across the rougher spots to soothe and smooth out both skin and feelings.
Don’t forget to focus on your face. A little treat of 101 Ointment for your lips or soothing eye cream can provide a lot of pampering for very few dollars.
Hydration is key to healthy skin, so treat yourself to a new water bottle. In fact, get two. Fill them both with filtered water and put them in the refrigerator.
Every time you open the fridge, ready to fall face-first into a bowl of salsa because you just can’t stand it, you can instead enjoy a cool drink of water out of your bottle. Rinse, reload, repeat. Let others know those bottles are off-limits if you share a refrigerator.
Finally, sleep is critical to a glowing complexion. If you can’t sleep at night, don’t beat yourself up. Get up, move to a chair with a single light source beside it, and read for a bit. When you get sleepy, go to bed.
Another option is to wind down your brain while lowering the light in your space. Turn off overhead lights 1 hour before bed and use an e-reader, set with a black screen, to lower the light further. Put a battery-operated votive in a pretty outdoor lantern and use this to guide yourself to bed at the proper time. Your brain will be easier to put to bed in the dark.
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Food and Beverages
A pretty teacup and some delicious calming tea are a great way to treat yourself, lower your calorie intake, and train your brain to take a break. If you can find it, invest in a teapot that you can use to steep peppermint or jasmine tea.
Make sure to honor your cravings. If you really want chocolate but force yourself to eat celery, you will be unhappy. You may also skip the celery and move toward the popcorn, chips, or worse. A good piece of quality dark chocolate, savored in comfort and privacy, will be just the thing your brain and body need to face the rest of your day.
Finally, if you’ve been eating healthy but dreaming of your favorite potato chips, get some. One small bag of your favorite snack will thrill your inner child and make you feel just a bit naughty. You can burn off these calories with the energy boost you get from the treat.
Nothing is getting easier or any more certain. The times we live in are loaded with worry and stress. Self-care is essential to staying strong and healthy as we face the next challenge. Be very kind to yourself.
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