In 2019, Make A Resolution To Act More Selfish

Forget traveling the world. Forget sculpting six-pack abs. Forget the elaborate resolutions you will give up two months into the year anyway.

As we approach 2019, make your resolution more realistic.

Make your resolution, “I want to feel okay again.” 

Your mental health matters. You can talk all you want about climbing mountains and writing a bestselling novel, but you are not going to be able to do any of those things until you take care of yourself first. Besides, you deserve to be happy. You deserve to wear a real smile.

Practicing self-care is a realistic goal — but that does not mean it is an easy goal.

You are going to have to deal with feelings you have been suppressing. You are going to have to give yourself permission to cry. You are going to have to forgive yourself for past mistakes. You are going to have to accept what you cannot change. You are going to have to start talking to yourself with a kinder tone. You are going to have to look at the universe with an entirely new set of eyes. 

In 2019, stop making excuses. Stop claiming you are too busy to take a day off from work or relax in the bathtub or see a therapist. Stop acting like work comes first, your family comes first, your friends come first, the rest of the world comes first.

Be selfish for once. Make yourself your top priority. Make sure you are okay before checking in on everyone else.

The more comfortable you are with yourself, the easier it will be for you to find enough energy to take care of work and family and friends. You will be able to do more for them after doing something for yourself.

If you have never called out from work for a mental health day, if you have never canceled plans to have some alone time, if you have never even considered sitting down with a therapist, then you need to stop thinking of your health as purely physical. You need to understand how much your mind comes into play.

Before you make more excuses about how you cannot afford to waste time or money on yourself this year, you need to ask yourself whether you want to continue forward feeling like you do right this second. If you are not okay, you need to do something about it. You need to make a change. 

If you’re still not convinced, take a look at your resolution list from last year. Read what you wrote and ask yourself why you wanted to do the things on your list.

Most of those items were probably things that would make you happy. That is usually the goal. To reach happiness. But you don’t have to climb Mount Everest or travel to Paris in order to find happiness. Taking care of yourself, making sure you are okay, will help you find happiness.

Once you accomplish that, then you can work on the rest of your resolutions.