South City Confessions: Don't forget to take a self-inventory once in a while

The worst thing we can is forget about ourselves in the everyday hurdle.

Stress comes with the price of living. All kinds of stress-related bullshit comes into the daily struggle of every person who lives and breathes. The amount of money doesn’t matter as much as one would assume. That brings more pressure, which means more stress.

I feel stress as I write this latest dispatch from the Buffet corner of the Substack cyberspace. When people ask me what makes this blog-hosting site different from the rest, I tell them that the current entity moves with the times, yet doesn’t forget the little things. When people ask me about taking care of others, I’ll quietly remind them (and myself) to think of numero uno.

There’s no selfish aspect to thinking about yourself and what’s going on and what has gone on for too long. A self-inventory is the worst kind of thing to rest on, wait to check, or deal with in life. Sometimes, we place our bodies and minds last. Check on the kid, friend, husband, wife, other friend, and then see if your reflection in the mirror matches how they feel.

Confession: For too long, I didn’t do a self-inventory. When you think what you’re doing is all fine and dandy, according to what’s happened before, a comfort settles in that can be quietly toxic. I was messing around with things for a while, and finally got free of them. In the meantime, though, I took my eye off the ball and it cost me. Thinking about yourself should also most definitely not include your job.

Your job is how you pay your bills, so that’s wired into the brain to keep that ship steady. What usually happens is that during the process of trying to nail down a rhythm, every other aspect of life is set aside. I wish I had stopped to smell the coffee and roses more often, so take my advice and don’t forget about checking in on yourself.

Believe it or not, it can also help others when you worry about yourself.

Take the night and do what you want. Watch the sky change colors. Put a new song on the speakers. Cook something for yourself. Whatever seems scary isn’t as bad as you think.

Look at me. Most of the time, I’m operating on fear and a resistance to getting knocked on my ass. Yet, those two things still happen. Being afraid isn’t a weakness.