Time for yourself. What, are you selfish? Inconsiderate of others needs? Self-centered? Heartless? Well, yes and no. In this world of ours today, we are all running around trying to do so many things and fulfill our plethora of responsibilities. Yet, we rarely take time for ourselves. If we do, we are looked upon by others as being lazy, or that we’re not working on something more important, such as our job, taking care of our children, or school work, or we’re just viewed as wasting our time.
give ourselves time to our physical and mental health
However, giving ourselves the gift of time is important to our own physical and mental health. Although, you wouldn’t know it by how others react to our “selfish” actions. “Chronic stress increases the risk of developing health problems,” (Maldonado, 2014) both physical and mental. Our bodies need rest to function properly and for continued peak performance. Too much physical work and we wear our bodies down. We become fatigued and then ill, and susceptible to other physical ailments. Yes, this is what sleep is for, however as many people in the world are continuing to achieve less and less sleep daily, our bodies are not acquiring sufficient recharging. Then there is the need for our mental health. Our minds get overworked and overwhelmed through interactions with others, with learning in school, on the job, as well as going through and thinking about our daily responsibilities. These take a toll on us as well, as we may be going 15-18 hours (or more) a day until we crash at night for an uncomfortable night of sleep. Slowly we begin to not be a able to think straight, start having anxiety or depression; if we aren’t already suffering a mental illness, and be incapable of completing our daily responsibilities. And don’t think the physical and mental are not affixed to each other. A reduction in one can and will affect the other.
How to keep our physical and mental health from collapsing?
To prevent our complete collapse of physical and mental health, we need to be selfish and self-centered. We need to take time out for just us. Be it exercise (yes, I know it’s physical work, but it can be refreshing), going for a walk, reading a good book, listening to music, drawing or painting, meditating, and many other relaxing activities. Any one of these can help you push out the chaos of the day and help you re-center your focus and relieve stress. Now, I’m not saying be selfish for days on end, just take 20-30 minutes out or even an hour if need be. If you can’t take time out each day, schedule a time twice a week.. If possible, schedule it for the same time each day or week. As Ferris Bueller says, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Take the time to replenish your physical and mental health. So go ahead be selfish, take time for yourself.
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