#originalstefka

You are under no obligation to do everything on hard mode. You absolutely are permitted to be kind to yourself.

I’ve seen so many people – and I include myself, here – say things like “I don’t really NEED (*insert thing here). I can manage without it.” It could be an extra wastebasket in a different room. Something to sit down on when you’re going to be out and about for a while. One of those grabber devices so you don’t have to bend over to pick up dropped items. A mini-fridge in your bedroom or home office. A cane for when you feel wobbly. Extra reading glasses salted around the house in your favorite spots. A scheduled-in half hour every afternoon to decompress. A comfy footrest for your favorite chair, vitamins that give you a boost, kneepads for gardening, that book you reeeaaallly want to read, nicer tools for whatever craft or hobby lights up your soul. The GOOD tea. A frickin’ NAP.

Yes, you probably can manage without it; you have, so far. But the threshold for having the thing, or doing the thing, does not have to be, “do I absolutely need this in order to survive?” It can be, “would having this, or doing this (or even NOT doing this) make my life easier, or happier?”

If the answer to that second question is “yes,” then by all means, go ahead. Get that object. Do that thing.

Being A Responsible Human is hard. It’s plenty hard enough to navigate the day-to-day world as it is, especially (but not exclusively) if you are in less than perfect health or youth.

There is absolutely NO shame in taking steps to make your life less difficult. If having that grabber saves you energy you can then spend visiting with a friend, terrific. If that fridge lets you grab a quick drink between video calls, great. If better tools make your chosen art sing? Awesome!

Please, for the love of little green apples, give yourself permission to do the things that make your life easier, or happier. You owe nobody an explanation. You owe nobody an apology. The person living your life is YOU. You deserve good things. You have the right.

"No pets allowed (except service animals)."

By definition, a service animal is NOT a pet.

There is nothing whatsoever that makes a meal "made the hard way" any more real than a meal made using short cuts. Sure, I love a good mirepoix for my soup, and I often make one from scratch. Most of the time, even. But you know what? My husband has NEVER turned up his nose at a homemade soup I've dished up that involves ingredients I bought pre-chopped.

Will buying veggies pre-cut help you to eat more of them? Pre-sliced cheese? Frozen burritos? Jarred spaghetti sauce? Good, good, good, and good. There is no moral failure to using convenience foods. Heck, there is no moral failure to using shopping and delivery services, either.

"Fed is best" is for more than just babies. Busy, sick, quarantined, have a disability, just bloody don't feel like [insert avoidable task here]? Then work around it, whatever that means for you.