It may sound strange to ask Are You Your Own Best Friend? as often I have always put others first believing that friends, especially family and best friends MUST come first in my life and always believed that, even now I still have some difficulty in coming to terms with this notion but now understand why YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND, and why you should put yourself first and it is not selfish in doing so. In putting yourself first you are in fact investing in others too.
The reasons why I believe you should be your own best friend in putting yourself first is this:-
If you are your own best friend and invest in yourself by taking care of yourself on all levels, physically and holistically speaking then you have much more to give to your family and your best friends; you have much more to go around, much more energy, more compassion, more love, understanding and you are not running on an empty or half empty tank.
The reason why I use this analogy is that, any vehicle cannot run without substance, fuel, petrol or diesel or whatever form, it needs it to run, the engine needs to be maintained as does the physical mechanics of the car or vehicle to make it run properly and efficiently to get the best out of it.
This is the same with us. Our physical bodies are our vehicles which need to be looked after, what fuel we put in, food, drinks, the way in which we maintain our bodies for them to run, including how much spent exercising, sitting down, exercising our brain etc.
The investment we put into ourselves our mindset – psychological wellbeing, social interaction, emotional health, etc., all contribute to how we feel and influences how we are, our self-concept, self-esteem, how we see ourselves, how we portray ourselves to others and how we feel others see us through our eyes or perceived thoughts.
Therefore, taking time out for you whether investing a period each day or week for yourself can pay dividends for you and your family, friends and colleagues in that this can increase your energy, self-concept, holistic wellbeing and you may feel much better in yourself.
If you invest in yourself you are not running on empty, it may be that you have invest in changing your eating habits, or just eating regularly, changed your mindset, whatever it is it has a positive effect on you and those around you too.