It seems like everywhere we turn, someone or something is telling us that we need to work nonstop, that resting and relaxing are bad ideas, and that we should always put others before ourselves. Even though this may be true in some situations, most of the time, it is much more important to take care of yourself. If you can do this, you will be able to help others better anyway, and you will be happier and healthier as well. If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, here are some of the biggest reasons why that’s not true. Maybe it’s time to slow down and think about yourself for a change.
Get To Know Yourself
With everything going on in our daily lives, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s most important and the goals we once set for ourselves. When you always do things for other people and don’t pay attention to your own needs, your plans and ideas can go away, leaving you feeling unhappy and unfulfilled. When you give yourself time alone and take care of your own needs and health, you can get back on track with your plans and remember where you wanted to go if you forgot.
If you promise to do just one thing for yourself every day, like reading a chapter of a book or watching one TV show, it will be easier to remember what you wanted to do and figure out how to get there. It will be hard at first, especially if your natural tendency is to put other people’s needs before your own, but it will be worth it in the end. Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean you can’t help other people. It just means you’ll be able to do it better and help them even more.
Others Will Benefit
The only real way to help other people physically, mentally, or spiritually is to be the best you can be, and you can’t do that if you don’t take care of yourself. If you want to encourage others to be healthy, you have to be healthy yourself. Purely from a practical point of view, you need to be healthy so you can take care of the needs of others. If you have depression, you won’t be able to help other people as well as you could, and it’s not selfish to ask for help. The same is true if you need help from the Palm Beach Institute for a problem with drugs or alcohol or anything else that is keeping you from being as happy and healthy as you should be.
No matter what your problem is, the only way you can really help other people is to get help for it or do everything you can to make yourself better.
You’ll Be More Motivated
Life can be hard sometimes, and if you feel worn down and tired of it all, you might lose any motivation you had. When this happens, it’s easy to fall into a routine of just existing and going from one task to the next, doing what’s expected of you even though you’re not happy with it.
When you take a step back and do something for yourself, like go to a spa, go for a walk in the woods, or just lie down and rest, you’ll start to feel better. You need this time alone to do something that makes you happy because that’s how you’ll find your drive again. When you do, life gets more interesting, and you can enjoy it.
You’ll Be Physically Healthier
Even though your heart is content and you have a sense of accomplishment when you are always helping other people, your body will start to feel worn out and will stop operating as it should if you don’t give it a chance to relax and tend to its own requirements. This is due to the fact that it is easy to get overtired and fail to get the recommended amount of sleep, which prevents your body from being able to repair itself while you sleep. Or, it’s possible that your pattern of putting the needs of others before your own means that you’re missing meals, consuming unhealthy snacks and junk food since you don’t have time to do anything else as a result of your commitment to caring for other people. It’s possible that you drink an unhealthy amount of alcohol since it’s the only method you know how to de-stress after all is said and done.
You are setting yourself up for illness and a host of other issues by engaging in all of these activities. Your personal well-being should always come first in your life.
