Me First!
You are flying in a jet plane
over the ocean, with your children.
Suddenly the plane bounces and jerks and the Fasten Your Seatbelt light
comes on. Over the loud speakers you
begin to hear the Captain’s voice, garbled under a layer of static, when you
feel the plane take what you think is a distinct plunge downward, a moment
later the oxygen masks fall down in front of you. You see the panic on the faces around you,
the stewardess’ and stewards are scrambling, the children, YOUR children, start
to cry – what do you do?
Yep, this is one of those awful
questions we all hate to answer. The
reality of the answer is so different from what we feel is ‘right’. The correct answer is that you put the oxygen
mask on YOURSELF first, so that you are better able to help your children. If, God forbid you started helping your
children first, you may pass out from lack of oxygen before you can finish
helping the rest of your children. But
if you are taken care of first, then you are free to take care of others.
This is a drastic example of the
“me first principle”. I know this
principle rubs people the wrong way, because it is contra to everything most of
us have been taught as children. “Share
your toys …”, “… if there’s not enough to go around then no one can have any
…”, “… good little boys and girls let their guests go first”. All your life you’ve been given messages that
others come first. If you are to be
considered a good person you must let old ladies sit in your seat on the bus,
you must let the person with one item cut in front of you in line and all kinds
of examples. Now of course some of this
is fine; pretty mundane stuff. But when
it comes to those things that count it should be all about “me first”. You
cannot help another without making sure you are whole first, you cannot make
another happy unless you are happy first, and you cannot love another without
loving yourself first.
Bright blessings ~ Richard