Thursday

Welcome to Thursday! Today, we're chatting about:

• Why complaining can actually be beneficial

• The balance of acknowledging your emotions and not letting them take over

• Toilet paper that’s saving the world

• Why you don’t need to love yourself before loving others

The Potential Benefits of Complaining

Complaining gets a bad reputation. However, what if we told you it could actually be good for your mental health?

It turns out there are actually some great benefits to sharing our frustrations:

• Helps us process our emotions

• It allows us to express frustrations instead of letting them stew

• Teaches us to acknowledge our feelings

• Can help us connect with others

• When we connect with others, it may help spark solutions and feel validation

If you’re going to complain, however, it’s important to do so in a healthy manner:

• Do it mindfully, and be aware of how often and how much you do it.

• Don’t stew in your emotions and hold on to your frustrations.

• Ensure the person you’re sharing your frustrations with has the mental capacity to listen, and it’s not overwhelming.

• Search for solutions to any problems you may face instead of letting the situations persist.

How to Acknowledge Your Emotions Without Letting Them Stew

It’s super important to allow ourselves to feel our emotions. However, we also don’t want to experience them to such a degree that they begin to impact our day-to-day and become overwhelming.

There is a delicate balance to feeling our emotions without letting them stew.

In these situations, it can be helpful to take a step back. Try to get out of your head and look at the situation a little differently.

Ask yourself some questions and get curious about where your feelings are coming from and why they’re so big. Journaling is a great way to explore this.

Don’t invalidate yourself — give yourself permission to feel the way you do, and don’t judge your emotions.

Finally, it can be helpful to label your feelings. It may feel silly at first, but something as simple as “I’m feeling ___,” can help you process those feelings and move on from them a little easier while still giving them space.

Remember that you are human, and while some emotions may be more comfortable than others, they all deserve space. Just don’t let those feelings rule your life in a way that becomes overwhelming.

This New Toilet Paper Just Might Save the Planet

Every 24 hours, 27,000 trees are cut down to make toilet paper. To us, that feels like way too many — and Honeycomb agrees. That’s why this small, female-founded brand created luxury, three-ply toilet tissue made from bamboo. It feels just like regular high-end toilet paper but doesn’t harm trees.

So why bamboo? It’s the fastest-growing plant in the world — growing 100 times faster than the average tree — which means thousands of rolls can be produced in the time it takes for a single tree to grow back.

Even better? Code NTS30 will give new customers 30% off their first order for the next 24 hours.

Get started here.

Thank you to Honeycomb for sponsoring Note To Self. 

Why You Don’t Need to Love Yourself Before Loving Others

You may have heard the saying, “You can’t love someone else if you don’t love yourself first.”

This teaches us that unless we experience radical self-love and self-acceptance, we may not be worthy or deserving of other forms of love — whether it’s romantic, platonic, or familial. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, experts say that experiencing love with another person while we are still learning how to love ourselves can help show us how lovable we are — and know that we are worthy of that self-love.

We deserve to experience all kinds of love, regardless of where life’s journey has taken us.

However, it’s still important to be sure we are seeking healthy relationships with people who truly respect and care for us.

Practicing self-compassion is a great place to start when exploring all kinds of love — whether it’s with ourselves or others.

If you are struggling with navigating these emotions, remember that there is no shame in working with a professional who can help challenge some of these thoughts and help you work through them.

A Note From Us

Parting Thoughts

• ✅ Did You Know: False, "negative" emotions are not bad — they're simply a part of being human and help us to experience the range of human emotion!

• 🙋🏼‍♀️ Snapshot Of The Day: We'd love to see moments from our readers lives that they are proud of! If you recently accomplished an achievement, experienced a joyful moment, or are proud of a picture you have taken, be sure to capture it on camera and send it to us for a chance to be featured next week! 

• 💭 Final Self-Care Thoughts for Today: Give yourself space for your emotions — regardless if they feel "positive" or "negative."

Enjoying Note to Self?

Know of a great self-care tip or article you'd love to share with the community? Want to send us pictures of you completing one of your self-care rituals? Email us at [email protected]!