Do You Think You Should Take Good Care of Yourself So You Can Take Better Care of Others?

Have you ever said or thought that you want to take better care of yourself so you can take better care of your family and other people you love? There have been many times when I’ve heard my clients and others with chronic illnesses say that, which is not surprising, because it’s become somewhat of an axiom in our culture. Well known life coach and author Cheryl Richardson states that “By taking care of ourselves, we can better care for those around us.”

My concern with the whole idea of taking care of ourselves so we can take care of others is that it implies that we need a justification for taking care of ourselves. We don’t. As a human being, you deserve the best care you can give yourself. You are no less deserving of that care if you don’t turn around and take care of or do good things for others.

Now don’t get me wrong. I think serving and doing good things for others is a good thing. It helps them and we feel better when we do. But when it comes to taking good care of ourselves, we don’t need any justification for doing that.

So please take very good care of yourself. You deserve it.