Your service to the world starts with serving your
highest needs first…
I know and work with many people who are service-oriented. Being a service person myself, I get great pleasure and satisfaction from serving others. However, service can easily turn to self-sacrifice, which is why learning to serve oneself before serving others is so important.
From an early age, we are programmed to put others first. The needs of others are more important than our own; we sacrifice what we need in order to give others what they need. The truth is you cannot give more than you already have.
Unless you feel emotionally strong yourself, you will not have the emotional strength to give to others. If you give from a space of depletion the result will be more depletion, burn-out, dissatisfaction, lack of vitality, exhaustion, depression and so on. Only when you are the best version of you, are you able to give the best of you.
‘Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself’ Michel de Montaigne
Take a moment to reflect on how you serve others. Has your serving slipped into self-sacrifice? Which of your own needs are not being met? How can you serve yourself first and become the best version of you?
1. Acknowledge yourself… acknowledge your wants and needs and give yourself permission to have them fulfilled.
2. Nurture yourself… give yourself time to relax, time to think, time to do whatever makes you feel good.
3. Be your own best friend… be caring, thoughtful, appreciative, understanding, loving… to yourself, just as you would to your best friend.
4. Receive… receiving with an open heart gives others the opportunity to give with an open heart – and that’s good for everyone.
5. Choose your words carefully… be careful how you talk to yourself because you are listening! Make sure your thoughts and words nurture and support you.
