I am going to talk about a personal example, one that made me realize that sometimes, you have to be selfish. Sometimes, you have to put yourself first. Sometimes, those around you need to know what is best for you.

When I moved away for college this past year, I became a whole new person. I was less anxious, I didn’t deal with depression in the way that I did during my time at home, and I was able to get my health under the best control that it has ever been in. I worked hard to get to that point, and it didn’t come easy. Throughout the year, when I came home for breaks from school, I found myself falling back into what I was going through before I moved away. I was anxious, I was constantly struggling to not feel sick everyday, and overall I simply didn’t feel as good as I do when I am away in Michigan. When I called my mom and asked her if I could stay for the summer, she told me she wanted me home. I was devastated. I wasn’t upset because I didn’t want to be around my friends and family, I was upset because I was tired of feeling as sick as I did the first 20 years of my life. I made a deal with her, though I was scared to confront her about it. I told her, “Mom, I will stay home for 1 month. If within that month I cannot keep my anxiety or diabetes under control, I need to go back to Michigan. This is my health and this is where I get to be selfish.” I didn’t know how she was going to respond. She said that she was fine with that, and she was more understanding than I could have asked her to be. That was when I came to realize that sometimes, it is ok to be selfish. I knew that my mom wanted me home for the whole 4 months, but she knows that when I feel sick, it takes a tole on every aspect of my life and she was willing to sacrifice that for my own selfishness.

Learning that it is perfectly fine to be selfish at times was one of the most important lessons I have learned in life. Now, that does not mean the type of selfishness where you don’t want to share your food with your siblings or only care about your own well being and not about the wellbeing of those around you. It is not the type of selfishness where you don’t want to help those around you because it can somehow inconvenience you and how you wish to spend your time. That is not the type of selfishness I am talking about. The type of selfishness that I am talking about is when it comes down to mental, physical and emotional health. Something I have learned over the years is that you can’t please everyone and if you are putting your health in harm's way for the sake of others, it is beyond ok to take a step back and realize that sometimes, you have to put yourself first. Sometimes, you have to understand that it is just as important, if not more, to make yourself happy as it is to make others happy.