The Season of Giving
This is the season of giving as many call it. And every business is out there trying to sell you things that you can give to others as gifts (us included). But the most important person you should think about giving to is yourself.
The truth is that we as people, as humans give a lot of ourselves, and whether we want to admit it or not, it puts a strain on us. And while we do get that joy of seeing someone happy as they open their gifts, or see them healthy, or out of pain, later we realize what it took to make this person happy, how much we gave of ourselves in time, effort, and energy. That’s when we need to think about what we need.
Believe it or not, we are not a bottomless well of energy and care, no matter how much we try to convince ourselves and others that we are. We are always available for someone, but who is available for us? How do we fill up that reservoir so we can continue to help others?
This is where we realize that we have been letting ourselves go so that we can care for others. And while it might seem selfish to do something for us, it is not. And it is a necessity. We can only give what we have. What happens when we give so much that there is nothing left? What happens is that we can not care for those we want to, which is the entire point. If our desire is to help others, then we have to be healthy mentally and physically or we can not do what we want.
Sometimes we have to say no so that we can regain the strength to carry on. Again, this is not selfish (although it may seem like it), it is necessary for us to keep our equilibrium, our center. We need to take care of ourselves. As a wise person once said, in all things, there must be balance.
Find that point of balance, and give yourself that care you need.