Yeah, I said it. Think about you.
It’s time to be selfish. Start doing things that make you happy and think about yourself for a while. We live in a culture that stresses how important it is to donate to fight world hunger, live for the greater good, and to put others first. Now, don’t get me wrong, all of these are good things to strive for, and I’m not saying you should start slamming doors in people's faces or to stop smiling at your hall mates when you pass them; I’m saying that it is OK and totally acceptable to take time for yourself.
Our well-being has so often been thrown to the wayside in order to help others and their well-being. We spend so much of our time on others that, when you go back and look at certain situations in your life, aren’t there times when you feel like you fall to the shadows? If you’re anything like me, you’re the type of person who worries until it hurts about other people, and you do anything in your power to brighten people’s day. I for one get so caught up in other people and their agendas that I forget to focus on the most important one: my own. I forget to celebrate my successes because I’m so busy congratulating others for theirs, and I forget about my accomplishments because it may be mistaken as boastfulness.
From balancing schoolwork and sorority expectations, club team practices, work, caring for friends, to fighting the common cold, the struggle was real. I had so many commitments and people to attend to that I started to hit a wall. My dad, knowing my stress level that week, sent me a short text: “Relax, little girl, and have fun.” Yes, exactly. As college students, it is so easy to get caught up in performing for others that we forget to stop and refocus once in a while. We live in a constant state of “well, Stacey will get mad if I don’t have lunch with her for her birthday” or “Alex will be disappointed if I cancel our study session tonight.” It’s time to realize that maintaining a healthy lifestyle isn’t just about hitting the gym and eating smart; it’s about keeping yourself happy too.
So what’s a person to do? How can you be happy for yourself without looking like a brat? Let’s start by taking the negative tone out of the word selfish. Selfish by definition means to care only about oneself, and by all means it is acceptable to do so on certain occasions. Stop hesitating from patting yourself on the back for acing your calculus test or praising yourself for getting sister of the month in your sorority. Those are great things, get excited for you! It’s OK to cancel on people every once in a while if you’re in desperate need of a nap. Post those pictures of your latest triumph on Instagram, tell the world how great you are. After all, if Thomas Edison didn’t go around boasting about his invention of the light bulb, we’d still be using candles.
