The Gentle Art of Care

Welcome to Episode 6 of A New Leaf, I am your host Carl Tambeau. Todays episode "The Gentle Art of Care" is from our book "The Attitude Shift." A Motion By The Ocean original. Somewhere along the way, we turned self-care into another task on the To-Do List. Another thing to earn, schedule, and even perfect. But real care ... Real care is quieter than that. It doesn't look like a luxury spa day or a perfectly lit candle - it looks more like honesty. It looks like rest that doesn't ask permission. I used to think caring for myself meant stopping everything. Now I know it simply means listening. Listening to what the body's been trying to tell me for days. Listening to what the heart's been whispering beneath all the noise. Some days, the kindest thing you can do is to say, "Not Today." Other days, its saying, "I'm ready." Both are care. Self-care isn't selfish. It's stewardship ... of your time, your mind, your energy. It's remembering that you're not an endless resource; you're a living rhythm. Like the ocean you move in tides. There are days you rush forward - strong, full of momentum. And days when you pull back - gathering strength in the quiet. Neither tide is wrong. Both are necessary. We live in a culture that worships exhaustion. People wear burnout like a badge of honor. But exhaustion isn't proof of worth. Peace Is! And peace often begins with the smallest act of care - a glass of water before another cup of coffee, a walk without your phone, a night where you stop scrolling and start breathing. Those moments may not look productive, but they rebuild the parts of you that work never could. There's a phrase I keep close: "You don't have to earn your right to rest." Because rest isn't a reward. It's part of the rhythm. When you give yourself permission to pause, you also give the world a calmer version of you. A version that listens better. Creates better. Loves better. So maybe tonight, instead of pushing through, you let the dishes wait. You step outside, look at the sky, and remind yourself that even the stars take turns shining. Tomorrow will come. But right now, you're allowed to simply be. If no one has told you lately: You deserve the same care you give to everyone elsel. You deserve your own gentleness. You deserve your own time. Take that with you - a small reminder that tending to yourself isn't retreating from life. It's preparing to live it fully. You don't fix yourself by pushing harder. You heal by caring softer.