Taking care of yourself is never your priority.

There are so many people we want to care for instead of ourselves. Whether we are parents who always put our children first, or significant others that put the love of our life first. We will usually take care of others before ourselves.

It isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

It’s great that you aren’t selfish and that you want to put others before you. Honestly. if you didn’t I’d imagine that you wouldn’t rub with people the right way. The problem isn’t that you care for others, the problem is when you care so much for others, you forget about yourself.

I see this happening to my mother all the time and I think it rubbed off on me as well. Whenever we were struggling and only had enough money to buy a dollar hamburger at McDonald’s, I would see her buy us food and completely leave herself out. She would go night after night not eating, until we got old enough to understand and made her stop. The same thing happened when we needed clothes. We hadn’t bought clothes for years, and we were all in desperate need of them. She would spend what money she could buying us some, and then walk out of the store with nothing. My mother has had the same pair of jeans for almost 10 years now.

Like I said, I think it rubbed off on me. Not to that extent, at least not yet since I don’t have children. However, I do find myself putting others before me a lot more than I put myself ahead of them. If someone needs to eat and they have no money, even if I am at my last few dollars, and I know I need to save it, I still buy them a meal. Or when I haven’t slept a good nights sleep in days, and a coworker asks if I can cover their shift, I still do it because I think about what they want and need before I think about that good nights sleep I desperately need.

There’s a line, folks.

You should draw that line when your health is at stake, both mentally and physically.

Mentally, can come in all shapes and sizes. Like when you are constantly there for other people to listen to their problems. yet you never have the chance to open up about yours. Or if you’re like me, you don’t want to open up about yours because you don’t want to bother people with your problems. It can be emotionally and mentally exhausting.

Physically, like my mother, you stop nourishing yourself with the things you need so that others can have. You can’t sustain that way and your body knows it. Your body starts crying for attention, and if you keep ignoring it, you can find yourself in a plethora of life threatening situations.

[Tweet theme=”basic-border”]It’s okay to put yourself first.[/Tweet]

I know no one really says this. However, some times the best way to help others is to help yourself. I am often told, “If I didn’t have you, I don’t know who I would talk to about these things.” The fact that they need me, makes me want to make sure I am constantly at my peak. I didn’t use to be this way. I used to let people completely drain me until I broke down. I’ve turned the tide recently. You have to want to do it for yourself so that you can stay sane enough to get through your own life. Your life doesn’t stop because you’re helping someone else get through theirs.

It’s perfectly okay to help people, and care for them. However, you need to find that balance. Take care of others, but take care of yourself too.