Gloriously bad poetry to help with freelance self-care

Freelance self-care can be hard to manage on a day to day basis. We forget to look after ourselves when we’re in the thick of looking out for others.

But we need to take freelance self-care seriously. It’s a vital part of protecting our best asset, ourselves.

There is a beautiful Polish proverb that simply says “not my circus, not my monkeys.” It is a reminder that in life, we can’t take responsibility for the actions of others. And that we don’t have to feel obliged to dive in and rescue people from their own choices.

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget as we work our busy lives that we aren’t owned by the businesses we work. We are not always able to be the people others want us to be. Or even have any idea how to fix their problems. We can’t please every customer. We can’t always be the boss’s favourite, even when we are the boss. And we can’t always have the good days we want to have.

But what we can look after is ourselves and how we respond to situations. We can work on our resilience. And we can carve out a little space for ourselves inside our heads where the problems of the rest of the world melt away.

And that begins with reminding ourselves that you are only one person.

Here’s a freelance self-care poem I have written. I hope you enjoy it.

You are only one person

As another email drops in your Inbox,

As another person asks you to take ownership of their load,

Remember- you are only one person.

When someone else asks for a big chunk of your time,

When somebody wants you to solve their problems,

Remember- you are only one person.

As a parade of problems end up on your radar,

As someone else off-loads frustration onto you,

Remember- you are only one person.

When the weight of responsibility threatens to crush you,

When the obligations seem endless and insurmountable,

Remember- you are only one person.

Don’t let comparison choke the joy from your work,

Don’t allow pressure to sit on your shoulders like an aching lump,

Remember- you are only one person.

Give yourself a break when you give it your all and you still miss the mark,

Don’t make excuses for being less than perfect if that’s what you are,

Remember- you only owe one person.

Remember- you are only one person.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Want more help with freelance self-care?

Check out my worklife balance blog section. Or get in touch for some coaching to setup a proper strategy to enhance your freelance self-care on a regular basis.

And you can head to freelance self-care community, the Freelance Jungle.