Taking care of number one doesn’t mean that you don’t care about others. It means that you give yourself the best care so you are then able to be there for everyone else.
Doesn’t it make sense that this is the most important thing to focus on, that if you aren’t healthy and happy there is no way you can help others?
For some reason, somewhere along the line, self-care got a bad rap.
If you were drowning, and somebody right next to you was drowning, can you help that person before you help yourself? No – you will both drown.
On an airplane, when the oxygen mask drops, are you supposed to turn around and help everyone else put theirs on before you do your own? No – you will die of asphyxia.
So stop trying to be a hero to everyone else while you suffer in silence. If you do this constantly, there will come a day when you will be of no use to anyone.
At work, make sure that you take care of your own tasks before assisting someone else. It is important to work as a team, but you don’t want to let your own performance suffer. These things get noticed, and excuses won’t cut it.
At home, take time to exercise, read, go for a massage, spend some time by yourself – anything that makes you feel better. You can be a Superman (or woman!) after you are functioning at the highest level. Until then, let others fend for themselves as much as possible.
Allowing others to stand on their own two feet and learn to solve their own problems is empowering for them, but especially for you. Don’t give until there is nothing left. Give when your spirit is full and the giving will have a quality to it that otherwise would be lacking.
Beware of the energy vampires in your life. They will take everything you have until there is nothing left. Keep them at arm’s distance until you have the chance to replenish yourself and the fortitude to then help them from a position of strength.
You can’t be everything to everybody and have nothing left for yourself. It is not selfish to take care of you first, it is necessary.
Don’t make yourself sick giving what you don’t have to give.