Love, Honour, Respect and Cherish Yourself

Hello lovely reader

Have you seen my ‘Romance Club Manifesto’?

This is about item #4: Love, honour, respect and cherish yourself like your favourite pair of shoes.♥

Marie Kondo, the decluttering queen, chastises us for not cherishing socks! Socks, she tells us are probably the hardest working items in our wardrobe.

They embrace our feet, keep them warm, absorb our sweat as we stand in them all day long and what do we do at the end of the day? Casually yank them off our feet and cast them aside in disgust.

She instructs us to cherish our humble socks and treat them with respect!

Yes, I look after my favourite shoes, they are protected in clear plastic bags and allocated space in special storage boxes in the bottom of my wardrobe!

It got me thinking, what do I NOT cherish?

I ended up with quite a long list starting with, my eyes!

I realised that do not cherish my eyes, I curse them for needing glasses, for being a bit red and hot (that’ll be the disturbed sleep #menopause) and for looking like they’re about to do a runner…they’ve always got big bags with them!

The next non-cherished thing was my shoulders.

This is a direct result of the eyes.

My posture is poor because I’m constantly leaning into my laptop to see the screen because I can see O..K…ish, if I strain and lean close therefore, I get engrossed in the task and usually can’t be bothered to look for and put on my glasses!

Bad Stephanie, baaad Stephanie.

First act of cherishment (no, it’s not a proper word) – I’ve dug out all my spectacles and put them on my desk within easy reach.

So that I don’t stoop down to read the screen I’ve raised my laptop.

Plus, I’ve just ordered some special eye cream for the dark circles and puffy bags. I’m so sorry eyes, I WILL take better care of you.

The sleep thing, well that’s a whole other lifestyle issue. I don’t drink enough water, I watch far too much Agatha Christie and drink far too much tea too late at night (I’m British!)

After giving the cherishment further thought, I’ve realised that I watch the work of Mrs Christie to distract me and help me procrastinate.

It helps me to avoid far nicer activities like learning a new song, writing, practicing a bit of watercolour art, doing a bit of exercise or, and I think this is the main reason for repeatedly watching repeats of Marple and Poirot, it stops me thinking about my life and lockdown!

So as you can see, addressing ONE little item on the list can have far reaching effects.

What things do you NOT cherish that you really, really should?

Health, belongings, people, pets, body parts, the planet and its resources?

I’m going now, to lie down with cucumber on my eyes!

Take care (got added meaning now hasn’t it!)

With love, Stephanie

(Background image by Pexels on Pixabay)