It's interesting that the emotion we feel is guilt. A guilty person has done something wrong. Something that needs confessing to. Something that needs to be made right, or something that they are to be punished for. It seems like we as women are SO willing to go all the way to the end of the guilt spectrum for doing things like taking care of ourselves or just believing that we are worth whatever we are doing for ourselves.
And I'm not sure it's just moms who carry this around, though they probably do more of it. I don't have children, but I feel guilty for all the same kind of things. We are so hard-wired to nurture others that somehow we get our messages crossed and decide that nurturing ourselves -- in any way -- is selfish and inappropriate. It's not a good way to be, but breaking it is extremely hard because it means - gasp - putting ourselves before others sometimes.
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It's interesting that the emotion we feel is guilt. A guilty person has done something wrong. Something that needs confessing to. Something that needs to be made right, or something that they are to be punished for. It seems like we as women are SO willing to go all the way to the end of the guilt spectrum for doing things like taking care of ourselves or just believing that we are worth whatever we are doing for ourselves.
And I'm not sure it's just moms who carry this around, though they probably do more of it. I don't have children, but I feel guilty for all the same kind of things. We are so hard-wired to nurture others that somehow we get our messages crossed and decide that nurturing ourselves -- in any way -- is selfish and inappropriate. It's not a good way to be, but breaking it is extremely hard because it means - gasp - putting ourselves before others sometimes.
It just shouldn't be that hard to do. But it is.
April 6, 2010 - 8:40amThis Comment
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