“If you are traveling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask first, and then help the other person.” The first time I heard this instruction on a plane, I thought it was extremely counterintuitive. As a pre-teen, the idea of prioritizing your own safety over helping a child made no sense to me.
But as I grew older, I began to understand the truth behind the phrase, “You cannot pour from an empty cup.” This is especially the case in emergencies. If you try to put on someone else’s oxygen mask first, you risk running out of oxygen yourself, leaving both you and the person needing help in serious danger. This explanation is clear when it comes to oxygen masks, so why don’t we apply it to other areas of our lives?
This holiday season, I’ve seen countless social media posts from individuals, especially parents, racing to do it all before the end of the year: school parties, company reports, home decorations, gifts, costumes, trips, and everything in between. With only a few days of vacation before returning to work, many people will be completely drained by New Year’s Eve.
Most of these activities stem from unnecessary societal expectations, not obligations. Before committing to anything that doesn’t feel like a source of joy or relaxation, ask yourself, “Do I have to do this?” If the answer is yes, sleep on it and ask yourself again the next day, “Do I really have to do this?”
In this hustle culture era, we’ve been conditioned to stay busy round the clock, and the concept of rest has become synonymous with laziness. For parents, the pressure is even more intense, with society pushing the narrative that parenting means opting out of self-care for at least a decade.
This month, I’m thinking out loud about the need to deliberately prioritize self-care, especially this season. There’s no reward for pushing yourself to the brink just to keep up with or exceed unspoken expectations. And this doesn’t just apply to the holidays but also to whenever you find yourself trying to put on someone else’s oxygen mask while gasping for breath yourself.