I may be cranky at times, but I?m a nice girl at heart. My parents did their best to instill me with good manners, and many of them stuck. I was taught to cede my place in line, to wait my turn even when I felt impatient.
And it didn?t work.
I?m not saying there?s no place for social niceties in an increasingly crowded and stressful world, but when it comes to weight loss, the ?me last? mentality has really started to bite me in the butt. I find myself struggling against a sense of obligation to others when I try to carve out time and energy for my own health priorities. In short, I use those good manners as a stick to beat myself with. Not so polite, is it?
Choosing others over myself might make the wheels of social interaction turn a bit more smoothly, but there?s a certain case for ?selfishness? when it comes to living my best life. After all, I could wait forever before someone else showed up to make those hard choices on my behalf. Good thing they don?t?that?s my responsibility, and I?m trying to grow into it.
When I really think about it, there?s always some task I could or ?should? perform on another?s behalf. The to-do list is as long as my arm and the list of internal obligations can feel endless. When I crowd my life with obligations to others, it?s hard to hear my own voice in the muddle. Guess what falls to the wayside? My health.
So what?s the harm of trying another way? Truth be told, the world won?t go to hell if I take an hour to exercise or a few minutes to eat a healthy snack. To think otherwise is to suffer from a disproportionate sense of my own importance (it?s also a secret self-sabotage message). This week, I?m working on putting myself first, as hard as it might feel.
What about you? Do you struggle to put your health first?
Pin ItAbout Erin Blakemore, Best Life Community Director and Contributor
A California ex-pat with a bookish streak, Erin is a writer, editor, social media strategist, and co-owner of VOCO Creative. After retiring from the Denver Roller Dolls, she traded her skates for hiking boots in her adopted hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Erin?s debut book, The Heroine?s Bookshelf, was published by Harper in 2010, winning the Colorado Book Award for General Nonfiction and garnering coverage in The New York Times, Glamour magazine, Ms. Magazine and more. Erin?s writing has been featured on NPR and in magazines like Bitch, Blackbook, and The Onion A.V. Club. Don?t worry?she won?t bust out the fluent German unless you go first.
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