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Imagine this if you will: You have a best friend, the one who sees you through the hardships and laughs with you through the joy; the one who is always there for you; the one without whom life would just be less fun. Now imagine this friend is not well.
What would you do?
You would do whatever it took to get her/him healthy again. You would bring your friend food and gifts; you would spend long hours at the doctor with your friend; you would comfort and love your friend back to health.
And would you mind the hours spent driving to and from doctor’s rooms? Would you mind the walks between hospital buildings? Would you mind the time you spent making meals to feed your friend with the right foods? Would you resent helping them do their rehab exercises?
Of course not.
Would you give your friend things which would make him or her sicker? Would you insist they do not do what the doctor ordered? Would you refuse to listen to their cries for help?
Of course not.
So why do so many of us treat ourselves with so much less respect and love? Why do we shovel food into our bodies which we know makes us overweight and unhealthy? Why do we resent the hours we may have to spend doing exercise to get our bodies strong? Why do we consider ourselves not worthy of well prepared balanced meals?
Why do we give ourselves the things we know damage our health?
If we just treated ourselves as we would our best friends, I think we would all be much happier and healthier. But we don’t – so many of us seem to feel that to take time to look after ourselves is selfish. And no one wants to be selfish.
But selfish is good. Selfish means that you will be healthy enough to look after your loved ones for much longer.
If selfish means you are fit enough to play soccer with your kids – how can selfish be bad?
If selfish means eating well enough to live long enough to cuddle your grandchildren – then how can selfish be bad?
Not looking after yourself, not treating yourself like a precious treasure may well mean that the people who love you will lose you before they should. If all it takes is a little selfish time every day to delay this – then I am all for selfish.
Dammit, I deserve to be looked after by myself.
You deserve to be looked after by yourself.
Be your own best friend.
Kim blogged about her amazing weight loss journey.
Follow Women24 on Twitter.
What would you do?
You would do whatever it took to get her/him healthy again. You would bring your friend food and gifts; you would spend long hours at the doctor with your friend; you would comfort and love your friend back to health.
And would you mind the hours spent driving to and from doctor’s rooms? Would you mind the walks between hospital buildings? Would you mind the time you spent making meals to feed your friend with the right foods? Would you resent helping them do their rehab exercises?
Of course not.
Would you give your friend things which would make him or her sicker? Would you insist they do not do what the doctor ordered? Would you refuse to listen to their cries for help?
Of course not.
So why do so many of us treat ourselves with so much less respect and love? Why do we shovel food into our bodies which we know makes us overweight and unhealthy? Why do we resent the hours we may have to spend doing exercise to get our bodies strong? Why do we consider ourselves not worthy of well prepared balanced meals?
Why do we give ourselves the things we know damage our health?
If we just treated ourselves as we would our best friends, I think we would all be much happier and healthier. But we don’t – so many of us seem to feel that to take time to look after ourselves is selfish. And no one wants to be selfish.
But selfish is good. Selfish means that you will be healthy enough to look after your loved ones for much longer.
If selfish means you are fit enough to play soccer with your kids – how can selfish be bad?
If selfish means eating well enough to live long enough to cuddle your grandchildren – then how can selfish be bad?
Not looking after yourself, not treating yourself like a precious treasure may well mean that the people who love you will lose you before they should. If all it takes is a little selfish time every day to delay this – then I am all for selfish.
Dammit, I deserve to be looked after by myself.
You deserve to be looked after by yourself.
Be your own best friend.
Kim blogged about her amazing weight loss journey.
Follow Women24 on Twitter.
