Page 142 - Creeative Thinking

This means that you alone must bear the responsibility of ensuring that you are being
nurtured, as you need to be. The question you must ask yourself is this: If you are not
happy, how can you possibly be the best mother, wife, sister or friend that you could
potentially be? The answer to that question is, quite simply, you can NOT. Once you
take care of yourself, you are then able to give, to the best of your ability, in all of your
relationships. Not only will you feel better, both emotionally and physically, but you
will be free from any guilt or resentment towards those you care for.

So, as you can plainly see, it is not selfish, at all, to take care of your own needs. On
the contrary, it is imperative. After all, you can’t possibly be an asset to the lives of
others if you are not happy yourself. For this reason it is important to learn, know,
and live by the “I! ME! I! MINE! my” philosophy.

The I! ME! I! MINE! my philosophy:

 I am important!!!!!!

 ME first!
 I have needs!

 MINE first!
 my other commitments are my NEXT
Priority.

You will notice the first four words of this philosophy are in capital letters while the last
one is on lower case letters. I have done this in an effort to stress the importance of the
first four words. This illustrates the tremendous need for you to put your needs
BEFORE the needs of others.

You may find it helpful to repeat this philosophy to yourself out loud until it
becomes familiar. Something else you can do to make this philosophy seem less
foreign to you is to create a poster with these words on it.

As with other posters you have created throughout this workbook, hang it in a spot
where you will see it often. Once you learn this philosophy, you will be better able
to take care of YOU!

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