It seems as if in this day and age, there is a fine line between putting yourself as your first priority and coming off as selfish. But I’m here to tell you that there is a huge difference between the two, and that when I realized that I needed to put myself first my whole perspective on life changed.

I’ve always been a people-pleaser, and during the course of my life I’ve missed out on things that would probably be better for me, because instead I felt it was better for someone else. I’ll always be the type of person who will go out of their way to help someone else, but I no longer allow other people’s opinions to get in my way and persuade my thinking.

I changed because if I do not put myself first and be the best person that I could possibly be, then I’ll never be the best person possible for anyone else either -- whether that is a friend, daughter or significant other. Not only that, but when I started thinking for myself and making myself happy I became content with life. And not just content with life -- I appreciated every positive thing that was happening in it. As for all the changes in my life that I considered negative that were happening at the time, I took them head on and realized they were meant to happen for a reason, whether I liked it at the time or not.

I will always put myself first in life because at the end of the day, no one has the power to control your happiness more than yourself. If removing negative aspects of your life that have been bringing you down scare you right now, I can promise you once you take that big step to remove them, you are on the path to putting yourself first as well. Don’t let people tell you that you are being selfish for making yourself your first priority; you are becoming the best person you can be.