Note: Please do not read this article thinking you can be the biggest bitch and get away with it because you are taking care of yourself. Being respectful and kind to others is still important.

Listen, if you don’t take care of yourself, then you won’t be able to care for others. Be selfish a little, put yourself first and you’ll be able to help them too.

I don’t know how many times I’ve told myself this and failed every damn time. We live in a world where we love and care so much about others, we end up forgetting to take care of ourselves. I know, the idea of putting yourself first sounds rude, self-centered, or … bitchy, but for god’s sake, be a bitch.

I get it, we all need some help and guidance to make it through the world. What I fail to get is why do we give so much of our time and energy to others and forget to give just a little to ourselves.

My best friend once said, “You gotta be a bitch sometimes.” The thought of being a bitch did not sound good at all. Wasn’t being a bitch the way girls act when they don’t get what they want? Or just being mean? I had no idea what he was trying to say at first (maybe bitch isn't the right term to be using, but I went with it). Although I didn't know what he meant, all I knew was I gotta be a bitch.

I came to find out I care way too much about others and not enough about myself. What he was trying to say was being a bitch means putting your self first. How was I supposed to do that? I have no idea.

I once devoted so much time to make sure others were happy and safe, my own mental and physical health were deteriorating. There were many days where I stayed up late on school nights listening to my high school friend talk about the guy she liked and how she couldn’t not be with him (mind you she just broke up with another dude two weeks earlier). I listened to their problems, made sure they were happy, and failed to keep myself in check. When it was my turn to struggle, when I had a major breakdown, not a cry sesh about a boy, but a serious mental breakdown my junior year in high school, I still found myself listening to everyone else's issues.

I, to this day, struggle with making sure I am ok before going off to help someone else. There is nothing wrong with giving time and energy to someone you love, but it is so much easier when you're not thinking about your own problems.

Our world revolves around making sure you give back. We listen to others, take the time out of our own day to help our loved ones, get those good karma points in yet fail to remember we are human too. We let ourselves go in order to carry the weight of others in our hands. We seek ways to solve their problems, make sure they have been eating and sleeping enough, and all for the sacrifice of our own well-being. We fail to understand we can do both, we can take care of ourselves and make sure our loved ones are doing well.

Wanting to be there for the ones you love is not a bad thing, but if you want to help them out and be there for them 100% you have to make sure that you are doing well first. Think of it this way, you can't keep writing if your hand is broken.