If you’ve ever flown on a commercial airline, there are a few instructions that are given prior to each take-off. Not that you listen or pay attention, but if you choose to listen, part of those instructions include something similar to the following:
“Although we never anticipate it, in the event there is a loss of cabin pressure, yellow oxygen masks will deploy from the ceiling compartment located above you. Please secure your own mask before assisting others around you.”
Wait!
I thought I was supposed to be more concerned about helping others.
What about helping my neighbor first and then helping myself?
What you may not consider is the fact that you need to be in your best condition if you have to help someone. If you run out of oxygen yourself, it can be extremely difficult to help anyone else.
The instructions concerning the oxygen mask are for extreme emergencies. It is often only when we face an extreme emergency that we stop and take time to care for ourselves.
Life happens fast.
We get up in a rush, we choke down breakfast on the go, we hurry from one appointment to another, dashing to each kid’s event in the afternoon, speeding through dinner, racing to get to bed, falling into bed and finally we find ourselves lying there staring at the ceiling.
Our mind continues at warp speed thinking about what we didn’t get done today, and what we’ve got to get done tomorrow. We eventually fall asleep for what seems like a few minutes, only to be startled awake by that noisy alarm, and the rush begins again.
Pushing through, we ignore the fatigue, the anxiety, the insomnia, the depression, the little aches and pains that try to send up warning signals. We speed past those flags like they’re not even there.
Physically, mentally, and emotionally, we find ourselves exhausted only to respond to another call, or another text request asking if we can help with one more thing, to which we gladly reply, “Sure.”
“Can you be at this event next week?”
“Of course.”
“Can you be a part of this group?”
“Love to.”
“Can you serve on this committee?”
“I’d be honored to serve.”
Until one day a real emergency occurs and you abruptly stop, and suddenly your priorities are quickly rearranged and you make time to care for yourself.
“Self-care” is a term that may initiate a feeling of guilt when we hear it. Too often it strikes a chord that it’s selfish, or not necessary. Self-care is not something that’s one and done. Self-care is a practice.
Schedules are something most of us live by every day. Many are experts at creating them.
Schedules are not all bad. In fact, they can be very useful for our hectic lives. But, learn to schedule time for yourself. And when you schedule time for yourself, don’t be afraid to say, “Sorry, I can’t make it. I have a previous appointment,” even if it’s an appointment for yourself.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
Everyone has the same amount of time in a day — 24 hours. It’s not that you don’t have time, it’s that you don’t prioritize the time you have.
Take it from someone who knows all too well, “No” is a very small word but can be very difficult to pronounce, especially when you want to help someone put their mask on.
Don’t wait for an emergency or life crisis to put on your oxygen mask and start taking care of yourself. Make an appointment with yourself to do something you want to do. And make it a “guilt-free zone.”
Take care of yourself, not tomorrow, not next week, not when you’re forced to, but today.
Breathe!
Put your oxygen mask on first!
Still Believing!
