I’m hopping up onto my health activist soapbox. But it’s okay you guys! It’s today’s prompt!
It irks me to no end when people don’t take care of themselves. I think it is one thing when you don’t know you have a health issue, but to know you have a problem or an illness and to ignore it just – uh – I can’t formulate words even.
Here’s the deal – even if you have terrible self esteem, you don’t have to take care of yourself for yourself. I mean, obviously you should, this should be something you want to do. We all have people in our lives, though, that we care about and that depend on us for one reason or another. Maybe it’s your sister who needs to have you for mental and emotional support, or maybe it’s your significant other who needs you around for that and more. Maybe you have children and they depend on you financially. Even if you don’t care enough to take care of yourself, you should care enough that these people need your support.
There are people who do a million things for others and don’t do anything for themselves including taking care of themselves and the logic is “Oh, I have to help and take care of these people first!” Here’s the deal – if you’re dying out of neglecting to take care of yourself, those people are going to lose you. Wouldn’t it make more sense to take care of yourself the right ways and be able to be around longer? There’s a reason the airlines all say to tend to your own oxygen mask first.
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| That little bugger should have grown up faster. Then this wouldn’t be an issue. |
I wish that more people would understand the logic in this idea. Sadly it is a huge issue in the #rheum community all over the world. We think that we are not enough because we are damaged and so we have to make up for it by coddling and helping others. Our self-esteem won’t let us realize how important it is for us to take care of ourselves and we end up with infections, deformities, and worse.
I am sure that part of the issue is how society still treats women. We have come a long way from the infancy of our country, but we still get paid less than men do – and are more likely to have an autoimmune disorder than men too.
I could keep ranting and raving and explaining, but I think it would just drag down the point. We have to take care of ourselves. Or, at least, I’d rather take care of myself than end up like a pile of peanut brittle at the bottom of the stairs.