How far have we gone from being made to feel guilty for prioritizing ourselves?

Long before “self-care” became a good word, thanks to Millennials and Gen Z tribes who “normalized” taking time to breathe, people just gritted their teeth and plowed on.

Surviving years of self-neglect and possibly self-abuse, some people ended up spending all that hard-earned money on hospital bills.

A lot of it comes from satisfying others’ expectations, whether it’s the family, the boss, society in general, or even one’s judgy pet. Anything that chips away at your sense of self-worth, if sustained over a period of time, will result in a “you” that you barely recognize.

Everyone has a coping mechanism, but “coping” is not always the answer. You need to stop at some point. Pause — a better way to put it. And if you make it a habit to take a bit of time to ask yourself how you are, you will save yourself a load of heartache (and doctors’ fees).

So I asked around: What is your idea of self-care? 

“Not taking a bath,” one answered so quickly, I could not help laughing. A joke, of course, but one that argues the freedom from always being perfectly put together. When you cease to care about the discomfort of others because of bad hygiene…well, that is another story.