Helping yourself might feel like a counterintuitive idea for a site like this. But why should it be? Do you not need help sometimes? Are you not just as worthy as others in this regard? I say absolutely you are. I’ve struggled with self worth most of my life, and still do, but not as much as I used to. And that’s a really good feeling to finally be able to accept that I’m no better, but also no worse, than anyone else. I deserve my love as much as anyone else deserves it, and with continued work, maybe I’ll get there one day. In the meantime, baby steps in that direction is so much better than staying where I was.

So, along those lines, surely you sometimes get stressed, overwhelmed, or just plain “over it!” And that’s okay, we all do. When you’re in need of decompression or relaxation, put yourself at the top of your help list. Take a nice hot bath with bubbles, a bit of your favorite wine, maybe a candle or three, and a good book you’ve really been wanting to read but haven’t been making as much time for as you’ve wanted to. And leave the rest of the world behind for an hour.

If you’ve ever taken a ride in a commercial plane, you’ve seen an apt analogy. The attendant says that in case of emergency, when those oxygen masks come down from the overhead compartment, resist your immediate urge to put it on your child or loved one. First, put your own mask on. If you fumble around in a panicked state and are having a hard time masking your loved one, and you start running out of air, then you both may be in trouble. On the other hand, if you can mask yourself as calmly and quickly as possibly, then you can take whatever time you need to more confidently do whatever you can to help others around you.

The same applies in your every day life. If you’re not yourself because you’re overextended, you need to help yourself first. Others are often not even going to recognize that you need help. A lot of us are pretty good at hiding that we sometimes could use a little help, even if it’s as small as just needing someone to listen to us complain for a little while. So, you might be the only one who’s going to help you. And there’s nothing wrong with needing or accepting your own love and support. Besides, if you want something done right, sometimes you gotta do it yourself, amiright?

So grab a quick snack if that’s what you need. Maybe just go for a brisk 2-minute walk to get away from a trying situation. Those precious seconds can help you begin to calm down or simply give your brain a mini-reset. Take a vacation day and grab a long weekend to just be lazy or drive around in the country on the open road. Exploration is often great for whatever ails a burdened noggin.

In fact, I’ll make a post soon about 10-ish great ideas for quick, easy, and inexpensive ideas to “go on vacation” without even leaving home (or not having to travel very far, at least). And I’ll link it right here. That’s right, go ahead and click right here on either one of these last two sentences.