“We wear so many hats and play so many roles: boss, employee, parent, child, friend, spouse, lover and so on. While all of these roles are important, none of them define who we are at our very core. When we allow these roles to define our very being the ultimate result is unhappiness, lack of fulfillment, and sometimes resentment towards those for whom we have been living. Life is a gift that could be taken in the blink of an eye. Wouldn’t it be horrible to get to the ‘end’ and realize you’ve squandered your precious gift by living completely and totally for others? A more bitter pill to swallow would be coming to the realization that the confinement in your life is, for the most part, self imposed. The people in our lives rarely ask us to sacrifice everything to fulfill our roles in relation to them. And if they do ask that much, the relationship needs to be re-evaluated. We should give of ourselves but keep the core of our being for ourselves. We should nurture that core and make it top priority, for it is self knowledge and personal fulfillment that will sustain us and make us better in all the roles we play. Putting your core self first is not selfish. It’s necessary.” -April Watts
