Take Good Care Of Yourself

Have you ever told yourself, "Take good care of yourself. You belong to me"? If not, maybe you should start. We spend so much energy tracking what everyone around us needs, and somewhere in that shuffle our own needs drop to the bottom of the list. Sometimes it goes further than that: the small stuff gets prioritized over the basics, the things a body can't really negotiate on, like breathing, eating, or using the bathroom.

Here's a day of mine as an example. I woke up late for work and skipped breakfast. On my way out afterward, I decided not to take a bathroom break, figuring I'd handle it at my next appointment. Then I opened the door and found that a snowstorm had rolled in while I was in class. I made the call to drive straight home before conditions got worse, which meant skipping the bathroom again and skipping food, even though it was already lunchtime. Standing there, I thought about what would happen if I got stuck in the snow on the way. I'd be furious with myself for passing up both.

Think about how often this plays out. You delay a trip to the bathroom until it's almost an emergency, letting chance after chance slide by because something else felt more pressing. You leave the house without shaving or putting on makeup because you ran out of minutes. Getting the whole family ready to go somewhere can mean you never actually get yourself ready.

Have you cooked a meal and then not eaten any of it? Washed someone else's car while your own sat there just as filthy? Go look at the laundry running right now. Is it your clothes, or somebody else's? Have you skipped sleep, or handed money to another person when you needed it for one of your own bills? Have you signed up for something because the word "no" wouldn't come out, even though your schedule was already packed past full?

Here's an idea. You know the game where you play Secret Santa and do one small, nice thing for your person every day leading up to Christmas. What if you were your own person for a change? Make your bed. Start the car and let it warm before you leave. Run a load of socks and underwear before you're out of clean ones. Put together a real meal for once, something with meat and vegetables and fruit on the plate.

And give yourself permission to do things you simply want to do, things with no obligation attached. Take a nap. Read a silly book, a magazine, the newspaper. Watch a dumb movie. You could even set aside a full day where the only rule is doing what you feel like doing, including when you get up, when you sleep, whether you nap at all, and where you go. Accomplish nothing that day except feeling good and being happy.

Take good care of yourself. You belong to me.

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