Put Yourself First, You Matter

 

                                                 Picture credit- Toa Heftiba, Unsplash

"In any case, I can’t have it all, I don’t want it all, and I can’t do it all either"

A close friend told me this recently when we were discussing work, home, kids and ourselves! 

When I told her that it is a strong statement and was there anything that triggered it, she said, nothing really. She is just fed up of reading the narrative- "you can have it all!"

The first thing that came to me was that this is such a misnomer. 

With the world and its pace, its uncertainties and its ambiguities, we women need to really define the 'all'. Define it for ourselves and customise it to our situations. 

We need to constantly remind ourselves that no two women are same, no two families are same and no two people's desires, dreams and expectations are same. 

So, how do we redefine that narrative. I can think of one simple thing. We all know it but we need to tell this to ourselves constantly- "Put Yourself First".

Put Yourself First

You Matter

Before your partner

Before your child

Before your family

And

Before the greater world

Put Yourself First

You Matter

Your health and your strength

Your space and your resilience

Your breakdowns and your stumbles

Your smiles and your tears

Put Yourself First

You Matter

Your coffee and your cake

Your sleep and your walk

Your Netflix and your book

Your chocolates and your ice-cream 

Put Yourself First

You Matter

Your aspirations and your ruminations

Your lists and your plans

Your choices and your songs

Your me-time and your nothingness

Put Yourself First

You matter

Own your can't s, your don't s, your won't s

Own your wants, your haves, your needs

Own your silence, your voice, your sanity

Put Yourself First

You Matter

Pick your 'all'

Put Yourself First

You Matter

#PutYourselfFirst #YouMatter #HappyWorldMentalHealthDay #MentalHealthConversations #Empathy #Self