GOOD
Sustainable You
Be Selfish BY KAREN LANGSTON
H
Have you ever flown? Before takeoff, the flight attendants go over some emergency preparedness. If there is a drop in cabin pressure, the oxygen masks drop from above the ceiling. The passengers are then instructed to put their mask on first before helping either a loved one or someone who may need help. Seems selfish, right? Not really, because if we do not have enough oxygen, we pass out and are useless to anyone else. The same holds true in our own lives. I know when raising my kids, I always took a back seat to my family’s needs. It is just how it goes—family first, pets first, community, oh, and work. Right, I need to put that first, too. But, what about you? How long can you sustain running on empty? How effective are you truly, when you are not feeling 100%? How’s your health, sleep, and energy? If you search this topic on the web, most of what you’ll find is about this lack of happiness and self-worth. I do not believe that this is the crux of what is going on. I believe we are an action of observations from our caregivers. We are either doing what they did, or doing what we did not
18
GREEN LIVING
|
greenlivingmag.com
get as a kid. My parents were not the nurturing type. They took care of our essential needs; however, because they were holding down sometimes two jobs each, there wasn’t much room for much more. I did what my mum did—worked my bum off, put everyone’s needs first, and myself last. It wasn’t sustainable, and I got sick as a result. I came across a quote by Rumi, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” This shook me to my core. I found myself taking a hard long look on how to make changes. I was running on empty, and everyone around me was suffering, too.
