A little while ago, I read a blog post from Girl Defined titled “5 Reasons I’m Ditching the “Me Time” Mentality” (I encourage you to go read it!). To be honest, I was kind of surprised by the title. I had always thought, from reading other blogs and social media, that me time was good. Necessary. Very beneficial to my health. And as an introvert, I definitely needed me time. Right? I mean, I needed time to myself to recharge.
After reading that article, I gave a lot of thought to the topic of me time. Did I disagree with the article? Did I still think me time was good? Or did I agree with Bethany? Is me time selfish?
We’re also told to care for ourselves, right? Well is that good? As I was thinking through these questions, I realized something. Me time is different than self care. They’re two different things.
Today, I wanted to highlight the differences between me time and self care. Hopefully you’ll leave knowing the difference, and knowing how you should recharge!
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1. Me Time is selfish, while Self Care is selfless
In essence, me time is truly all for yourself. You have this time to recharge and get away from the world. You don’t want anybody to come in between you and your time. When I really thought about it, I realized this was selfish.
Self care, at the core, is taking care of yourself so that you can serve others. I mean, that just sounds selfless, doesn’t it? You may take a bath, read the Bible, or exercise so that you are able to serve others. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t have the ability, and you can burn out or get sick.
2. Me Time focuses on the present time, while Self Care focuses on eternity
You know I’ve been thinking a lot about being eternity focused. When I thought about it, I realized that self care truly is focusing on eternity. You are taking care of yourself so that you can serve others. And serving others is a way to be eternity focused!
Me time focuses on the here and now. Yes, I believe you should enjoy the time that is right in front of you, but everything you do should be with Jesus and eternity in mind. In my opinion, me time makes you just focus on yourself and the time that you are spending now.
Read: How to Live Eternity Focused
3. Me Time leaves you wishing for more, while Self Care prepares you for “real life”
Like Bethany said in the post I referenced earlier, me time just makes you wish for more. Once the time is up, you count the days until the next time. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t look forward to having fun or taking care of yourself, but if the time is what you’re focusing on, then it may not be the best mindset.
Self care recharges you so that you can serve others (want me to say it again? 😉). It prepares you to go out into “real life” and make a difference. It allows you to do your best and give your all because your batteries have been recharged (once again, referencing Bethany here!).
So what do y’all think? Does self care sound like a better alternative to me time? Honestly, I believe that the difference between me time and self care sometimes is just your perspective and mindset. I mean, you could be doing the same exact thing, let’s say taking a warm bubble bath, but if you’re just doing it to “escape” and focus on yourself, versus recharging yourself so that you can give away the best of you, it’s selfish.
Jesus was all about recharging so that He could pour out love to others. He would go away to pray so that He could better serve others, and to refocus His mind. Praying and reading your Bible are the best ways to practice self care.
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and
departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”
Mark 1:35
And that’s just one of many verses!
God wants us to take care of our bodies. He made us to have time to rest (Sabbath). He truly loves us and wants us to love on ourselves as well. It’s just the motive. Selfish or selfless?
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I hope this has encouraged you!! What was your perspective on me time before reading this? Has your opinion changed? What do you do to practice self care? I’d love to connect with you in the comments!
Read: 35 Ways to Practice Self Care
Until next time,
Tags : contentment, devotion, encouragement, rest, self care
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