You First
“You first,” the wise woman said.
“How selfish,” went the voice inside my head.
Long have I learnt that it’s not fair
To put yourself first
When of others you must take care.
Scripture’s been quoted
And many examples set
Of how to make sure
That the needs of others are met.
What they don’t see
Is what it cost me
To give time and again
Without speaking my pain.
At last I have found
That I must stand my ground.
No guilt will I feel
Should you call me a heel.
Self-full I will be
And take care of ME.
Only then can I give from the fullness within
That is the only way it will be win-win.
“Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” – Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
“Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort.” – Deborah Day
“Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” – Christopher Germer
“The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” – Steve Maraboli
“You are the representation of God in your life. “And you put you last and put other people ahead of you. Which means you’re putting other things and other people ahead of God in your life.” – Iyanla Vanzant
This post was written for the One Word Blog Linkup hosted by Janine Huldie of Confessions of a Mommyaholic and Lisa of The Golden Spoons. Today’s words are : First or Thunder.
I was inspired by a Facebook update by The Bespectacled Mother!
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Self-acceptance and taking care of oneself first should never considered as selfishness. Well expressed, Corinne.
Giving and caring for others is good but the thing which is important is – ‘Are we able to do it with the right energy?’ Like in the quote ‘First put on your own oxygen mask before helping others to breathe properly. Thank you Corinne for giving me a mention here. Becoming an inspiration to someone whom I look up to as a blogger and even more as a person is a feeling beyond my ability to define.
Such great reminder. I think as women, and particularly as mothers, we are so focused on taking care of others that we simply don’t take time to care for ourselves, but it is so important.
How easy it is to forget yourself in this world! Thanks for reminding me how important I am but funnily when I put myself first in any situation, I am judged as being selfish
Definitely cannot thank you enough today Corinne for this reminder as a mother I truly never put myself first, but I know I truly should. So hearing it here from you really does hit home for me right now more than you know.
Agree! there is no such thing as being selfish when we take time, to refresh our inner soul.
Right, Sacha!
So true Corinne….It’s so easy to forget ourselves…So, yes we shouldn’t feel guilty for putting ourselves first…never at all..
Awesome post, I say to people many times there is a reason you’re asked to put your life jacket on first, before helping others, and it is because you can’t help others if you’re drowning yourself. It’s not being selfish to look after yourself first. It’s making sure that you’re in the best possible shape to help others
This is valuable advice. Thank you for sharing. I’m a big proponent of Julia Cameron’s similar wisdom.
On several occasions, I have felt that I am being very harsh on myself. This post of yours has made me to think on being kind to oneself first .. after all charity needs to commence from home.
A fabulous post! This is something that I think we all need reminded of on occasion. More often than not, I always put me last. Thank you so much for sharing and have an amazing week!
Constant. Struggle. You described it beautifully. I’m getting a tiny bit better at allowing myself some me time, because I can sense my daughters especially craving to have a mother who has other dimensions and interests. But I’m sandwiched between motherhood and caring for aging parents and every hour is a bit of a tug-of-war on time.
Self-full–I love it! Sometimes hard to fulfill!