“Self-care is not selfish; you cannot serve from an empty vessel.” When you think about all the beautiful essentials in life that makes the world go around, there is an order of operation that is put in place to make sure everything goes on without a hitch. In everything there is an order of operation or a system set in place for things to get done whether it is at a job, at home, our cars, our home, our bills, and our kids we have a system in place to take care of all these things that are a priority in our lives. I want to ask everyone reading today what is your system or your order of operation that helps you to grow mentally and spiritually, what steps are you taking to filling your soul and healing internally? As necessary and well needed as this is to have in place as a man, woman, wife, husband, mother, a father, as living human beings this is the one thing that is the first to be compromised because we feel we will have time to work on that later. The truth is this is the first area in our lives we must focus on becoming better in before we can accomplish anything else. Our physical, mental, and emotional health is important we can never truly be successfully by being unhealthy, drained physically, mentally, and being an emotional disaster. It is possible to have great accomplishments because you possess great work ethics but all that becomes is a beautiful vase on the outside but an empty shallow whole on the inside.

 How do you work on these very important needs? the first step is by recognizing that we all have flaws and accepting and loving every part of ourselves and being willing to master ourselves.  To become a master at dealing with life we must first become a master of ourselves, who we are, who we are being, and what value we are adding in the world daily. As a life and wellness coach my passion and responsibility are to encourage, love and inspire others, but the only way I can be effective in what I do I first have to be able to nurture my soul. I must make the commitment to work on myself from the inside and out to avoid pouring from an empty cup. The reality is if I pour into others and forget to refill my vase eventually, I will become and empty vessel with nothing left to give to myself or others.  How do I commit to becoming a master of myself? is by setting up a system of things that are non-negotiable for myself daily.  I make sure at the beginning each day before I do anything I must have time to be with myself, to listen to my heart and my mind, I pray for strength and restoration daily, and I write down  all the things I am grateful for and my list of  affirmations. Lastly, I listen to motivational audios and I commit to applying the things I am learning and being able to identify the areas I need to work on. I started engaging in yoga every morning why because it makes me feel relaxed and rejuvenated after.

I am not telling you; you must do exactly what I do what I am encouraging everyone to do is take time to pour into yourself, fuel your mind focus on being healthy in all areas of your life. when you set out to chase your dreams and bring your visions to reality be sure that the first two priorities on that list is making time to connect with God and committing to living a healthier lifestyle. Everything in life is a choice there is no such thing as I cannot, or I do not have time, we all make the choice daily to do what is important to us.  If you are some one that is on this road take a stand for someone that is important to you invite them to join you if they are willing and open to receive the ones that are not do not make that a concern pray for them  and  continue to work on yourself and show them what is possible .We must remember that our body is a temple and should be treated as such, our quiet moments should not be compromised and over shadowed by other priorities. Rule number one love yourself enough to take care of you first and while we are busy chasing our purpose remember to still make time to worship who gave us purpose work that system you put in place and the rest will flow.