the gift of service

 As a therapist, I spent a fair amount of time talking about the importance of being of service to others as part of recovery and is part of just what it means to be a healthy person. Positive psychology has shown that gifts of service or acts of kindness can actually make you happier and more fulfilled in your own life. However, like anything, this is about balance. Therapist will often say that you need to "put yourself first". On the surface, this statement sounds selfish or even rude but putting yourself first is the only way for you to be able to guarantee that you can really be there for someone else when they need you. Simply put, you can't give someone something that you don't have. Putting yourself first means prioritizing your own self-care over and above the needs of other people. Your ability to connect with other people in a genuine empathic way is finite needs to be carefully monitored. One of my supervisors one said that the ability of being of service to others it's like a reservoir and if you drain that reservoir completely you will have nothing left for yourself or for other people. Putting yourself first means investing in the people and activities that bring you energy and don't just deplete it. Take a minute and ask yourself what brings you joy? The goal is to be more intentional about doing those things that keep you refreshed and revitalized in the midst of the battle that's going on all around you.

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