And self-care has been shown to prevent these types of problems and more. But believe it or not, self-care can become selfish if you're not careful. I think it's useful to distinguish a few terms here. True self-care is everything you do regularly to maintain physical, mental and emotional well-being.
There's a fine line between self-care and selfishness. Setting aside time to properly address our mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual needs is not selfish. On the contrary, creating time for proper self-care is a selfless act. It is the opposite of selfishness to maintain the best possible conditions, especially if it is done to serve others.
By practicing self-care BEFORE these types of conversations, you'll have a much better chance of being productive and getting the results you want. Selfishness is the practice of putting one's own needs above others, while reasonable self-care is about making sure that one's own needs are not always considered last. Self-care is a means of restoring your own energy, which promotes healthy physical and emotional well-being. Unfortunately, with the advent of misguided ideologies such as “self-care first”, it seems that this type of thinking is becoming less and less common.
However, setting limits for spending time on self-care is perhaps one of the most selfless things you can do, as it gives you the ability to care for others. Self-care involves setting limits so that you don't spend all your personal energy on taking care of everyone but yourself. This aspect of self-care is so important that an entire field of therapy has been developed around fun; it's called “recreational therapy.” Giving yourself time each day to focus on your personal goals and values is the best form of self-care.
