Self-care is Your Responsibility

“If you want to command your own life in a way that benefits you and harms no one else, first clear your own faults out of the way.” -Seneca

In an Airplane, if cabin pressure drops, oxygen masks deploy, and you're told to secure your own before assisting others. It ensures you're conscious and capable before trying to help anyone else. But this principle also applies to life more broadly—self-care isn’t selfish; it’s necessary. Additionally Self-care is your responsibility: You're responsible for your mind, heart and body. 

In a relationship, it's normal to want the well-being of your partner, and support each other, but ultimately your partner is, also, responsible for the "heavy-lifting" in regards to their own self-care as you can't force someone to take care of themselves.

Many people are miserable because self-care requires the sort of effort they're not willing to partake in. The longer someone remains miserable the more difficult it is to get out of it as they find comfort in their misery. They can become familiar with their pain, even attached to it, because at least it's known.

Self-care is the secret of living well. Life is better when you feel good about yourself.

Reducing The Chances of Depression

 “Every emotion is weak at first, but then it gains strength as it progresses. It’s easier to prevent it from starting than to stop it once it has begun.” -Seneca

To simplify Seneca’s words: Prevention is easier than medication. The best way to fight depression is to live in such a way as to minimize the risk of developing depression. Some things, such as loss, are outside of our control and can cause depression. Many things, however, are within our control and we simply fail to associate them with depression. If we don’t exercise, socialize, eat properly, sleep well, or go outside... over time, these bad habits will increase the likelihood we’ll develop depression. Often depression is, like obesity, the result of bad habits which mean that a change in lifestyle may be require in order to change our outlook on life. Mental health, like physical health, requires effort in order to be maintained. Let’s insure that what’s within our control is as good as we have the energy to make it.

Where's The Discipline?

Is taking diet medicine cheating us out of some life lessons? Similar to someone winning the lottery, someone taking medicine to loose weight hasn't developed the discipline necessary to keep the results on their own accord.

What will happen once the medicine stops? Likely the same thing that happens when the money from lottery winners runs out... they'll revert back to their previous state.

Loosing weight is difficult because we live in a world where everything that is delicious isn't nutritious. It takes a great deal of effort to eat correctly, exercise and sleep appropriately but those that develop the discipline to do so become better versions of themselves. The lessons we learn, throughout our health journey, can help in other area of our lives. 

By being disciplined about our health, we gain energy, confidence and improve our mental health. What does diet medicine do besides help manage weight?

Think About Your Future Self

 “The choicest days of hapless human life Fly first; disease and bitter old age follow, And toil, till harsh death rudely snatches all.” -Vergil

In the future we may:

• Become sickly...
• Have financial struggles...
• Become lonely...
• Experience loss...
• Have trouble with the law...
• Loose freedoms...
• ...

What we do today shapes our future. What we do today may bring us closer, or further away, from problems. Life is a gift and we need to take care of our “present” in order to minimize the potential problems of the future. “Life is like a play—it doesn’t matter how long it is, but how well it’s acted. It makes no difference when you stop. Stop whenever you choose, just make sure the ending is well done.” -Seneca