You cannot be happy, meet your responsibilities and have good relationships with other people, if you don\u2019t take care of yourself. If that concept is obvious to you, and if self-care is second nature to you, feel free not to read further.\u00a0 This article is for those of us who struggle with that idea.<\/p>\n
I am one of those people. I have difficulty doing even the smallest things for myself.\u00a0 For instance, a part of me feels guilty if I do something as simple as treat myself to a cup of tea at Starbucks.\u00a0 But that is neither a healthy nor a spiritually proper approach to living.<\/p>\n
Consider Jesus\u2019 statement in the Gospel According to Mark:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026You shall love your neighbor as yourself<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0There is no other commandment greater than these.\u201d \u00a0Mark 12:31 [emphasis added]<\/p>\n When we read this verse, we typically focus on our obligation to our neighbor. However, most of us are quite good at loving our neighbors!\u00a0 In fact, we tend to treat our \u201cneighbors,\u201d e.g. our families, friends and colleagues, better<\/em> than we treat ourselves.<\/p>\n However, Jesus doesn\u2019t tell us to treat our neighbors \u201cbetter.\u201d He specifically says to love our neighbors \u201cas,\u201d or in the same way<\/em>, as ourselves.\u00a0 There is wisdom in that approach.\u00a0 So often, I see young mothers who are disheveled while their little children have on immaculate outfits and perfectly combed or braided hair.\u00a0 Or I see mothers of teenagers who are schlepping their kids to countless sports practices, while they are overweight and exhausted.\u00a0 Or I hear of people who care for their sick family members, and then work to the point where they themselves become physically ill.\u00a0 Those situations aren\u2019t just sad.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t in keeping with Jesus\u2019 teaching.<\/p>\n The challenge is that it takes a great deal of confidence to say to the world, \u201cI am going to take care of myself first, <\/em>and I will meet everyone else\u2019s needs second.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Unfortunately, the world is not going to applaud you for that statement.\u00a0 In fact, you may get both subtle and overt resistance.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Well, some people are lazy.\u00a0 And they\u2019ve learned that if they simply refuse to do things, or if they complain about having to do something, others will pick up the slack.\u00a0 It is bizarre, but every family and every organization has people like that.\u00a0 So if you engage in self-care, the lazy people are going to give you some resistance because they want you to keep doing all the work.<\/p>\n As a result, when you make self-care a priority, you have to accept that it may make you unpopular. But life is not a popularity contest with other human beings.\u00a0 Life is about serving God.\u00a0 And you cannot serve God fully if you are not physically and mentally at your best.<\/p>\n How should we take care of ourselves? Well, it is important to remember that we are not God.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have infinite power.\u00a0 Instead, we are fleshly, fragile creatures.\u00a0 So we need rest.\u00a0 And we need healthy food.\u00a0 We need to do things that we enjoy.\u00a0 We need time to think, read and mentally recharge.\u00a0 And we need time to pray.\u00a0 Without doing these things, we simply cannot serve God and be a blessing to the world.<\/p>\n So this week, consider the ways that you can start taking care of yourself. Create new routines of self-care.\u00a0 Realize that taking care of your body, mind and spirit is one way that you can say \u201cThank You\u201d to God for the life that He has given you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You cannot be happy, meet your responsibilities and have good relationships with other people, if you don\u2019t take care of yourself. If that concept is obvious to you, and if self-care is second nature to you, feel free not to read further.\u00a0 This article is for those of us who struggle with that idea. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n