Put Yourself (and That Means Your Health) First

Work, kids, driving, college applications, financial aid applications, taxes, spouses, other significant others, kids’ homework, cooking, cleaning, sex…. The list of obligations goes on and on. Talk to most women in America and they have a similar list of their own. But where do we fit in?

Even our free time isn’t quite our own. If you’re in a relationship, your social life revolves around other couples approved by your significant other. And depending on your partner, that list can be quite limiting. If you have young children, you select friends from the mothers of your child’s friends. Not that I’m complaining, my friendship with my favorite Staingirl, Kaye, survived far longer than our sons’ friendship.

But the point is that in general, we women tend to almost bury ourselves with obligations, and we fail to take care of the most important obligation of all: ME. Some suggest it’s important to be selfish. I don’t think it’s selfish. It’s a necessity that I along with others have long ignored because the squeaky wheel gets the oil, and (pick one or more) spouses, bosses, clients, kids, etc., squeak a lot louder than we do.

We figure we’ll take care of ourselves once those squeaky wheels have moved on. Meanwhile our health suffers while we get fatter or go on meds due to cholesterol, anxiety, blood pressure, insomnia, etc. That presumes that our bodies can hold out during that time period.   When it is finally our turn we have to face the consequences for ignoring ourselves.

No, I refuse to wait until retirement, last kid moves out, or any other circumstance to take back my life and my health. I vow to begin taking care of myself now. To that end I have revived my 30 minutes of walking for 30 days.  I began it once and it soon went by the wayside due to my obligations (or some other excuse). This time I promise myself that I will see it through. And I will add to my goals after that time period.

What should you do? Find at least one thing you can do over the next 30 days that involves taking care of yourself, whether it’s walking (I’d love to have a cyber walking buddy), incorporating a healthy fruit or grain, getting together with a favorite friend more often, or scheduling a timeout in your daily schedule just for you. Let us know what you’re doing and keep us posted on how you’re doing. And if you don’t mind, would you add one more obligation to your list? Help keep me accountable in my promise to myself.

Maybe all those “obligations”, i.e., work, family, sex, will actually become what they were meant to be, facets of living our lives passionately.