Creating The Bubble of Self-Protection

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When I said self-protection I don’t mean the pepper spray or stun gun. Not even a helmet or condoms.

Do you really care about how, where, when and with whom you spend your time? Why? Why does it matter to you? How does it help you in your personal life?

The aim of creating a bubble is not about isolating yourself because you hate everyone, but about self-care, personal growth and self-love.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you feel compelled to withdraw from the negative elements in order to protect your peace and positive energy? Recently, I have been experiencing some bad days. Low energies and lacklustre. I felt nothing was going my way. This, I assumed is a consequence of me not having ample time to take care of those things that matter most to me. Such things can be a burden. The fact is I cannot be everything to everyone and be in several places at the same time.

I lay on my bed in absolute darkness and quiet and thought about what and who is important to me. I concluded that although there are a few things that are important – I am a priority. I started to think of some of the goals that I’ve set and how much harder I need to work to make them a reality.

What some of these people don’t know is that while I am carrying their load I also have mine. Not because I’m silly, but because of that streak of kindness that is always on my sleeve. I realized I need to pour a lot more into myself and avoid being overburdened. Do you ever find you care too much? We all do from time to time.

Checking in on myself made me understand that I need to become a lot more selfish. The idea provoked a feeling of guilt. However, I was able to view it with a positive outlook and a feeling of enthusiasm.

I feel strongly about the fact that being selfish for the purpose of self-care is valid.

How do you deal with the demands of external elements? Sometimes we do way too much and stretch ourselves. We must stop. Stopping will be the initial step to building your care bubble.

Pausing from overwhelming activities is essential towards emotional, mental and physical health.

Then, I implemented these steps to initiate my self-care bubble.

Press the stop button. You’re overwhelmed. You’re completely drained of energy. You’re about to give up but deep inside you know you’re not a quitter. What do you do? It’s time to press the stop button. And by this I mean – you’re not pausing. Period! You press the darn stop button because it’s time to rest. You’re not a robot. Stop and think. Or do you want to continue in exhaustion? When you stop and think you will realize how much weight you’ve been carrying. At this juncture, you decide whether you will continue or you’ll unburden yourself.

Then disconnect. Make yourself less available to others. This includes your social media accounts. Manage it well to only keep in contact with those that are close to you. This might appear severe but it is an important aspect of self-care and personal development. You can even change your telephone number. Turn off notifications so you won’t feel pressured to communicate with others who are not your priority. Minimize unnecessary conversations especially with those who only want to complain.

The intention. After establishing the necessary cut off perhaps you can keep those close to you as you prepare to shift your focus. We are all wired differently. For me, I’d prefer to be alone while all this is happening as I am inclined to be more productive. Next, write those things that you’ve been working on and was unable to accomplish. Give yourself additional time to finish them. Keep your eyes on the task ahead and work on them every day.

Be gentle with yourself. Give yourself permission not to be the perfect person, and to make mistakes. Take good care of your health while you’re at it. Practice gratitude, work out and find time for reading. It is a great thing to have peace of mind. Self-care is important but cannot happen if you are drowning in trying to help others. You’ll see that your space will become quieter and more meaningful – away from the distractions into a solitary environment.

Perhaps there are many ways to create a bubble of self-care. This is just one that absolutely worked for me.

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