This is for the girl who constantly puts everyone else before her. Your friends, family, classmates, roommates — they are all important. It might feel like you are constantly responsible for other people’ happiness and needs,but you must remember that you are your number one priority. So here I am to tell you that it is okay to choose yourself.
Choosing yourself can be hard if you feel like there is always someone deserving of your full attention. However, choosing yourself becomes easier when you make it a priority to self-love. The whole “becoming comfortable in your own skin through self-love” is a phrase that is thrown around as if it is as easy as making a pancake. Yet, both making a pancake and practicing self-love may not always be simple feats.
Like making a perfect pancake, self-love and care requires some preparation. Treating yourself with absolute kindness and patience is the first step, like you would when prepping the pancake batter. You need to apply different amounts of care, appreciation, and confidence to yourself as you would add a mix of ingredients to the bowl. You can not completely love yourself by only caring, just like you can not cook pancakes with only flour (that would be pretty icky). You need to practice every other aspect of the recipe as well.
Next, you need to set up the skillet, just like you need to set yourself up for self-love. Focus on what you love about yourself. Whether it be your keen fashion sense, your stealthy athletic skills, or your passion for animal rights, gear your attention towards what makes you tick and appreciate that.
When it is finally time to cook the pancakes and put your self-love to action, you need to choose yourself. Even when you want to focus on everyone else and belittle your own problems, choose yourself, because this will help you find comfort in your own skin. Though you may feel like this choice is selfish, it is sometimes necessary and can lead to needed progress.
Though you have a heart full of love to dole out to everyone in your life that you so deeply care about, it is imperative that you leave a good chunk of that love for yourself.
Whether or not you feel that you deserve the care you so often give to everyone else, rest assured, you 100% do. You deserve the same amount of attention and effort you share with other people. With that being said, you unfortunately can not expect everything you give to boomerang right back. Instead, you need to focus on yourself.
Not only do you need to focus on yourself and your direct needs, but you need to focus on your future, desires, motivations, successes–the list is endless.
My goal is not to give you the impression that you should focus solely on yourself. Instead, I want you to know that you should never feel ashamed for being a little selfish sometimes. You must do what is best for you and focus on your needs, whether it is something physical, mental or academic. You do not need to cut ties with your best buds, but understand that you are top priority to yourself.
You give so much love and affection to everyone else, so you deserve the same.