SELF CARE OR SELFISH

by Michael Scott Karpovich, CSP

Words                     461

Characters              2020

Paragraphs               7

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            School is over for the day...what do you do now?  Do you run home and relax because your work day is over?  Do you treat yourself to a dinner, a movie, or maybe even a nap?  Or do you go home only to grade more papers or write a lesson plan in front of the television?  Maybe you don't even leave the school but run off to another committee meeting.  Perhaps you spend the majority of your evening telling those close to you about the difficult situations you encountered at school.

            OK, it is a given that we love children and we want to make a difference ... those are two of the reasons we went into education.   But are these good reasons to deny ourselves a personal life?  Of course not!  Still, it has been programmed into all of us that if we take times for ourselves we are selfish!  We tell ourselves that if we care for ourselves before the children or the school, we simply don't care!

            These conflicting messages can be so destructive that they will eventually lead to the feeling of "burnout" and even severe depression.  If you do not spend significant time in self care you will hurt yourself.  Perhaps we are fearful to take care of ourselves because of how we were programmed when we first went into education.  Perhaps we deny ourselves because we confuse our priorities and values.  Whatever the reasons, too many great teachers care for everyone else before they take care of themselves. 

            The Bible says "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt 22:39) but in our minds we sometimes remember it as "Love your neighbor more than yourself!"   Is it really possible to love any other human being more than we are able to love ourselves?  What is not inside of us can never come out of us.    Love can't come from you if you do not love yourself, anymore than salt can come out of an empty saltshaker.

            The greatest teacher is always the one who teaches by example.  If we want children to take care of themselves, we need to know how to take care of ourselves.  That example will direct them towards healthy life choices.