WHY YOU NEED TO LOVE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CAN HELP ANYONE ELSE
By Neil O’Hanlon
Ladies and Gents, I wanted to write this short blog about why it’s so important to look after ourselves in all things fitness, nutrition and wellbeing. You see, the thing is, too many people are afraid of the concept of ‘self love’ or putting it another way ‘looking after one’s self before others’. This is something I think we all struggle with, I get it, it doesn’t sit right with me either but let me explain. We’ve all heard the comments when we were younger that have probably given the idea of ‘loving one’s self’ some negative connotations like, ‘look at that guy, he just loves himself doesn’t he’. Or the sarcastic ‘Don’t worry about me mate, you carry on and sort yourself out’ as well as the ‘I’m alright jack’ mentality. No, when I talk about self love, I’m really talking about getting yourself in a good place mentally, physically and if so, spiritually before you can even begin to help or be of any service to anyone else. How can you possibly be of any use to anyone when you’re always the one who bends to meet others demands and never has any time for yourself. You’re the one always suffering burn out, you’re the one who’s always tired and getting the niggling colds and infections as your immune system is constantly low through lack of sleep, poor nutrition and the thought of physical activity is so un-motivating. Along with this, you’re always on the go, your mind is never really present or aware as you’re always thinking about the next task ahead, today, tomorrow or who know when? These endless racing thoughts and the constant invisible low grade stress is chipping away at you and leaving you irritable and frazzled.
Think of this analogy. When you take a flight, the stewards on the plane give a pre flight onboard safety and evacuation demonstration. Procedures are being shown on how to make this as smooth as possible and one of the first thing that’s said is that when the oxygen mask is released from above, then make sure you sort your own mask out first and ONLY then can you be of any use or service to anyone else including your kids, parents or more vulnerable people, the list goes on. If you help others before yourself, then what good are you when you start to suffer the ill effects of oxygen deprivation and can’t even think straight. What good are you then? This is simply saying, in order to help anyone else to your full potential, you have to help yourself first. You have to be in a good place first, you need to be kind and love yourself before benefiting others.
The Takeaway
Well, thats it guys. I hope you found this helpful. If you do feel like one of those people that are always putting others before yourself. Do yourself a favour and give yourself a bit of you time today, maybe have a coffee and read a page in a book, do something that makes you feel good and not a chore. Make it a habit, don’t feel guilty, don’t feel selfish, as in the long game this is the only sustainable way to benefit you and those around you.
21 THINGS TO SHOW ‘SELF LOVE’ TO YOURSELF BELOW
