Growing up, I was a giver. I was the one always there for everyone, even if it meant putting aside the feelings I was experiencing. Through time, it started to eat away at me. I started to constantly push out my feelings and my emotions for the sake of others. It had gotten to a point where if someone asked me how I felt, not only would I lie to them but would be lying to myself.

Then I broke.

I hit my breaking point and the emotions began to flood over me. I was hit with almost every and any kind of emotion I could feel, and I felt alone. I was the happiness in the lives of those around me, I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me. I couldn’t tell anyone I was feeling the way I was. Until I realized how seriously it was affecting my overall health.

When I neglected to take care of my body mentally, it started to take toll on my body physically as well. I had become so enraptured in trying to please everyone else, I stopped doing all of the things I loved, and all the things that made me happy.

It wasn’t until recently that I realized that needed to change. Over time I slowly started putting myself first. I did the things that I enjoyed. In doing so, I realized I didn’t have as much in common with some of my friends that I thought I did. In fact, with some of them, we were polar opposites. I would force myself to enjoy the things they did because we were there for each other and always had been.

Little did I realize, as you grow, you change. And so do your friends.

So I stopped.

I stopped all together. If I didn’t wanna do something I didn’t do it. I put myself first. In doing so, I lost a lot of friends. But in the long run I’ve realized how much happier I’ve been. I’m now able to focus on my own happiness and have felt extraordinarily better.

In the words of Dr. Suess,

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

You live with yourself your whole life. At the end of the day, take away your friends and family, there is only you. Making others happy, while rewarding, will not mean a thing if you don’t make yourself happy first. You are the best you, that you can be. Put your happiness first, results will come.