For so many people, especially women, the belief is this:
It is somehow wrong and/or selfish to focus on yourself. To spend time, energy and attention on growing and becoming stronger as a human being.
Many folks may have heard for years from family, other people in your lives or even media that the most important thing is to focus on the people around you.
And to not do that all the time is selfish.
Do you feel guilty when you take time to focus on yourself? Many people I hear from and see firsthand firmly believe they are somehow robbing from others.
Sure, being self-absorbed and feeling like everything is about you all the time is both destructive and annoying.
But taking care of yourself is not!
So, let me ask you this…. If you fall ill, who is going to take care of everyone around you?
Think about this…. if you help and take care of everyone else, but leave little or no time to care of yourself, then how you feel about yourself, the energy you have available and basically your health is likely to suffer in the long run.
But, if you make yourself stronger then you can be stronger for the people close to you as well. That is why on airplanes, they say to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, then help others to get their mask on. You have to have a firm base in order to “hold” up others.
If you help yourself, then you will be able to pass on what you gain – the energy, the optimism, the habits and life strategies you learn – to the people in your world.
And when you feel better about yourself and your life, then you’ll naturally want to spread that joy and good feelings on to your relationships.
>>It might not always be easy to find the balance in life between focusing on yourself and the other people in it.<<
But, it will make a world of difference if you have been neglecting yourself a bit too much, been hard on yourself or felt resentful for this unbalanced position.
So make sure to set aside some time regularly for focusing on just your own well-being and personal growth. Even if that is a few minutes every morning or afternoon. I schedule in an hour every afternoon to go for an hour walk by myself. If helps my mood, my energy and my health.
So, this week, schedule in time every single day for yourself… to exercise, to read, to mediate, or just to hear silence and sit in the sun.
>>Do it both for yourself and for the people you love.<<
And for a bit more motivation, I share some points from my Energy workshop with great tips on refocusing.
Sandy Adams 