Why You Should Put Yourself First
“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” - Jean Shinoda Bolen
Every day is a new day filled with distinctive learning experiences. As cliché as this may sound, life is a never-ending learning process. Each person or entity that crosses our path teaches us something new that we didn’t know before.
Learning to prioritize yourself can be tough at times, especially when we’re young and live in a society where being accepted and “fitting-in” is the norm. Why do we do this? Maybe it’s because we want to feel loved and accepted, and essentially think this makes us happy. If we truly want to be happy, then we should stop looking for it. In a series of new studies led by the psychologist Iris Mauss, the more value people placed on happiness, the less happy they became. When we place high importance on the value of happiness, we tend to look for it in other places. Nonetheless, I believe happiness starts with you.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with sharing happy moments with your boyfriend, girlfriend, or best friend. Good relationships make us feel more alive and therefore more engaged in all aspects of our lives. It is a great thing, and I do believe the energies of those around us make us happy. However, happiness truly begins with yourself. Everything else is merely a complement, which is why you should put yourself first.
The idea of putting yourself first can come off as selfish. This isn’t true. The thing is – to give love and be the best version of yourself, you must learn to put yourself first.
It’s self-full to be first, to keep yourself healthy, to take care of you, to be as good as possible to yourself – which doesn’t mean you disregard everything and everyone. But when you start sacrificing yourself for other people, you make them a thief because they are stealing from you what you need and they don’t necessarily know it. If you love yourself, you’ll know how to love other people.
Just remember, you’ll always have yourself. You are your biggest asset – and no one can take that away from you. Love yourself; you come first. Everything else in life is a complement.
