Loving and Putting Myself First

Valentine’s Day is here, and as I reflect on the universal holiday of love, thoughts of my only new year’s resolution begin to flash across my mind’s eye. My new year’s resolution to take better care of myself was a result of an anxiety attack I had last year. The ordeal helped me learn to slow down, relax, and put my needs in front of other people’s. This month’s post won’t be so much about loving and reaching out to others as it will be about learning to de-stress, though Valentine’s Day is in the month of February. In the weeks following my anxiety attack last November, I did a lot of self-reflection, and discovered that I had been treating myself poorly physically and mentally. I would go for hours without eating, and was always worried about solving everyone’s problems when I could barely handle my own. When God tells you to slow down and you don’t listen, he’ll get your attention one way or another. His way of getting my attention last year was the anxiety attack, though he had been warning me to slow down for months. From the ordeal, I’ve learned to listen when my body says no to strenuous physical and mental strain I was so prone to put it through. You only get one body, and when that one is worn out, you can’t borrow another.

Are you always putting others in front of yourself with little or

 no regard for yourself? Are you always worrying or stressing

 about something or another? Learn to let go, de-stress, take

 better care of yourself, and put yourself first.

Be gentle with

 yourself, you’re doing the best you can!