Why do we always put ourselves last?
Each day we have a mental, or physical list of priorities — work, partner, bills, kids, laundry, kids, friends etc etc — that we tell ourselves that we must give our time to, and I would agree that our day to day life stuff is important, but I would also 100% say that our needs are important too and it's time we started putting them further up the list.
It's easy to come up with an excuse to why we can't.
Life is busy, there's deadlines and social events and responsibilities, and the kids can't feed themselves and our partner doesn't know how to do this or that and our friend really needs us and she was so amazing when I went through my last crisis!
Again I'm not suggesting that you dismiss all of this, what I'm saying is it's time to shuffle things around and make time for yourself where no one else is battling for your attention, giving yourself some space to really focus on you and no one else — whatever that looks like for you.
So why is time and space to yourself so important?
Well, because I think it's massively contributes towards your wellbeing one every sense of the word. Emotionally and mentally having time to pursue things that are meaningful to you helps to build up your resilience and craft your identity as you other than being what you are to other people.
It also gives you time to relax, switch off from your daily responsibilities and that is super important too — you've heard that old saying "You can't pour from an empty cup" right?
I'm telling you that you, me and everyone else deserves to have some time alone, it's not selfish or indulgent it's looking after your health and anyone or anything that makes you feel guilty about this is in line with your best interest.
If you find it's hard to let go of your responsibilities and I agree that things like children and work cannot be easily put to one side whenever you feel like it then working out a plan could be your way forward.
Can you schedule this time in advance when you know you'll have support to step away from whatever you are normally doing?
Can you plan micro moments of time like getting up ten minutes earlier to do something positive for just you or big chunks of space where you have an afternoon to yourself at the weekend to attend a class, visit a museum or read a book in your local park? Time to yourself doesn't have to be every day, it's about working into your life somewhere and allowing yourself to enjoy it guilt free, knowing that you deserve it.
Growing as a person and staying in touch with your true self is so important and it's essential if you are going through a difficult time or are facing tough challenges in your life, time to yourself give you a chance to do this.
It's OK to want it, it's OK to take it - because it will make you stronger and more ready to deal with whatever life throws at you!
I'd love to know more about how you spend time to yourself or what hurdles you come up against when try to fit this in. You can share in the comments below or come and share with me over on Instagram or Facebook.
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