I can’t believe it’s almost the end of August. It seems like summer went by in a heatwave blur.

Traditional Volunteerism

• 4 hours Crisis Text Line

Charitable Giving

• $0

Personal Kindnesses

• I let my friend borrow folding chairs of mine for a job. Hopefully I was able to give her some good vibes too!

Self Care

• More acupuncture. It’s been fantastic and hopefully consistent visits will really help me bounce back.
• With fall comes a lot of great trips for me. Paris, Austin, etc!! Should be fun. So I’ve been travel planing and daydreaming about running plans and training throughout the fall.

How did you do this week? Share in the comments!

It’s still too hot. Tuesday it seemed like everything was going wrong. Lots of little disappointments and things irritating me. It was too hot, my dog was misbehaving, had a bad workout, etc, etc. I tried not to give up and write it off as a bad day and instead tried to look at it as the universe pointing me to self-care. I can’t say that 100% worked but I tried.

Traditional Volunteerism

• 4 hours Crisis Text Line

Charitable Giving

• $0

Personal Kindnesses

• When I Crisis Counsel with Crisis Text Line there is a chat area for all the counselors online. There are a lot of newbies as we continue to grow and I try to join in the conversation and respond when they have questions. It’s easy to get tied up in your own conversations and let someone else chime in. But I remember being new and not knowing what to do in certain situations. I think just saying, “That’s totally normal, I’ve been there too,” was a huge help. (You can be a newbie too – click here to get started)

Self Care

• After a suggestion from a fellow Crisis Counselor I put some TLC into my eyebrows. It’s funny but it really worked. I’m ready for a big change in my life and starting with beautiful eyebrows seems to be helping. I’m going to follow up with a face mask and a manicure this evening. A little pampering never hurts.

How did you do this week? Do you have a funny self-care idea that works? Share in the comments!

It’s been a very devastating week. My heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones and all the hurting hearts out there. #BlackLivesMatter

Traditional Volunteerism

• 4 hours Crisis Text Line

Charitable Giving

• $0 – Update on the donation when I bought the lottery ticket a week or two ago… I won! I won a couple dollars. But I’m still a winner. Lottery karma for the win!

Personal Kindnesses

• This week I posted a lot of pictures on social media. Pictures of me being thankful, pictures of my crafts, pictures of my dog – happy pictures. It may not be much but hopefully it cuts through a little bit of the sadness and angry out there.

Self Care

• I’ve been spending most of my time daydreaming about future vacations and planning for future races. I’m thinking of doing another marathon or three.
• I received a gift this week in the mail. I love getting mail and unexpected gifts are even better.
• I also spent some time finishing some DIY projects I’d started eons ago.

How did you do this week? What are your go-to self care ideas when the news is as bad as it has been lately? Share in the comments!

It seems like time is just flying by. I’m taking a big test tomorrow to get a professional certification and all my spare time has been going to study for it.

Traditional Volunteerism

• 4 hours Crisis Text Line – It’s been 1 year since I got accepted as a counselor and began this crazy amazing journey.

Charitable Giving

• $1 – Children’s Hospital – I buy lottery tickets every week – because I love to daydream about what I’d do and as much as I love being a broke philanthropist… wouldn’t it be fun to be a rich philanthropist! I went in to the local gas station to buy my $4 worth of tickets. The clerk asked if I was sure I didn’t want to put the whole $5 bill to the lottery, when I hesitated he suggested I donate it to Children’s Hospital. Now that to me sounded perfect. It’s a dollar that I won’t notice but will help and the good deed can only help increase the chances of a lottery win!

Personal Kindnesses

• A co-worker of mine asked me for some career/life advice and I think was a helpful confidant. It sounds like she has some excitement in her near future and I hope I was able to push some worries aside so she can see and enjoy that.

Self Care

• I choose my next knitting project that will be a gift. I have months to finish it but it’s something fun and exciting to focus on. Although there’s been a crazy heatwave so knitting might not be the best project right this second.
• Exercise is a go-to self care strategy for me. I went to YouTube and chose a lower body pilates workout. Before the video got started the instructor was talking about being body positive and she said “Don’t worry if your thighs touch, you’re that much closer to being a mermaid!”. Haha it was so fun! I’m a mermaid! Work out because you love your body not because you hate it.

How did you do this week? Share in the comments!

It’s almost mid-June… I can’t believe it’s summer and the year is getting close to halfway over!

Traditional Volunteerism

• 4 hours Crisis Text Line

Charitable Giving

• $0

Personal Kindnesses

• I really have to say the Beatles got it right – I get by with a little help from my friends (well the first part of that song). I’m not sure what I did to be kind this week but I am sure that my friends are always demonstrating kindness to me.

Self Care

• I started a two week daily yoga challenge. Starting your day (or squeezing a few minutes in anywhere) makes such a difference. I took some time in my practice to set an intention for each day. Having something to focus on and ground you throughout the day makes such a difference. I should do yoga everyday all year long but 2 weeks is a good start.

How did you do this week? Share in the comments!