As I was listening to this song, I figured it was perfect for a blog entry, so here goes... So often we want to take care of everyone else, but we have remember the balance and the give and take of life - if we don't take care of ourselves, we can't do anything of value for anyone else.
"Sometimes we don't listen to what we already know. Take time to hear me, cuz you've got to be told.
So busy looking for love, like you don't know your worth. Get it together even when it hurts." The singer is saying that there are certain things that we know, but we don't always listen to and apply them. We probably know that we should take care of ourselves, we probably know that we ought to love ourselves, and we probably know that we ought to do better, but we just don't. [It's true that there are times when we don't know. But in this moment, I am now holding you accountable and letting you know that your days of seeking love outside yourself first need to end like this sentence.] She is saying that we need to take hold of what we know and apply it, even though it may be hard. This may mean letting some things/people go, even though we were looking for their love, because they are not serving our lives as we deserve and because we need to love ourselves better.
"You gotta be good to yourself, yeah (Be good to yourself). You can't wait on nobody else (No one else). Baby, be good to yourself, yeah (Be good to yourself). Or you can't love nobody, ooh (Or you can't love nobody else)." The chorus simply tells us to be good to ourselves. We can't wait on someone else to make us happy, to take care of us, to be good to us, to love us, or anything else. This isn't to say that we can't allow it to happen when it does come, but we can't put ourselves on hold, waiting for someone to do those things, especially when we can't do it for ourselves. And if you can't appreciate and love yourself who you see everyday and spend all your time with, the person you know most intimately, how do you expect to be able to truly give love to someone else. Without that foundation of love for yourself, you will only be able to love out of a need for someone else's love as opposed to loving just to love. There will always be a selfishness behind love that is not coming out of an overflow, because it is never settled and needs to seek and pull more from others.
"Some days you feel like running from everyone you know - the things that you thought might be right now, it ain't necessarily so. So much on my mind, need a break from it all to get myself together so I don't fall." When you get stressed, it's easy to want to run away from everything. As an introvert, I know that when I get to that breaking point, I will hide in my headphones, putting the phone on silent and hiding in any of my personal sanctuaries... and the singer is saying that this is not a bad thing. Sometimes it is necessary to get away and sit with yourself. When you clear away the distractions of everyone else, you can see yourself (and consequently, the world around you) more clearly. This isn't to say that you should run away from your problems, but it is necessary to take a moment to get yourself together by yourself, especially when things don't happen as you anticipated in life.
"Oh, when you're traveling through the highs and the lows, make sure you listen to your spirit. You gotta take care of your soul. Hold on, never give up - you can get through whatever. Always make time for yourself." We all go through things in life, but in order to maintain balance and sanity, it's important to be able to sit with yourself. Don't be afraid to be by yourself for a while. And this doesn't necessarily mean with the tv or a million things to distract. Take some time in silence with yourself... and see what you hear. Your inner voice (known by names like conscience, gut, intuition, Holy Spirit, etc) has much to say and share, but you have to take time to listen in order to receive guidance. Take care of your heart and emotions as well, because without healing and some sensitivity in your heart, you will miss a lot of the love and beauty available to you. Besides, it's hard to operate in a meaningful way when you are broken and bleeding, not even attempting to deal with your stuff. And remember that you have within you what you need to get through anything. You've made it this far, right? :-) Don't quit now - there is beauty ahead.
"You gotta be good to yourself, yeah (Be good to yourself). You can't wait on nobody else (No one else). Baby, be good to yourself, yeah (Be good to yourself). Or you can't love nobody, ooh (Or you can't love nobody else)." The chorus simply tells us to be good to ourselves. We can't wait on someone else to make us happy, to take care of us, to be good to us, to love us, or anything else. This isn't to say that we can't allow it to happen when it does come, but we can't put ourselves on hold, waiting for someone to do those things, especially when we can't do it for ourselves. And if you can't appreciate and love yourself who you see everyday and spend all your time with, the person you know most intimately, how do you expect to be able to truly give love to someone else. Without that foundation of love for yourself, you will only be able to love out of a need for someone else's love as opposed to loving just to love. There will always be a selfishness behind love that is not coming out of an overflow, because it is never settled and needs to seek and pull more from others.
"Some days you feel like running from everyone you know - the things that you thought might be right now, it ain't necessarily so. So much on my mind, need a break from it all to get myself together so I don't fall." When you get stressed, it's easy to want to run away from everything. As an introvert, I know that when I get to that breaking point, I will hide in my headphones, putting the phone on silent and hiding in any of my personal sanctuaries... and the singer is saying that this is not a bad thing. Sometimes it is necessary to get away and sit with yourself. When you clear away the distractions of everyone else, you can see yourself (and consequently, the world around you) more clearly. This isn't to say that you should run away from your problems, but it is necessary to take a moment to get yourself together by yourself, especially when things don't happen as you anticipated in life.
"Oh, when you're traveling through the highs and the lows, make sure you listen to your spirit. You gotta take care of your soul. Hold on, never give up - you can get through whatever. Always make time for yourself." We all go through things in life, but in order to maintain balance and sanity, it's important to be able to sit with yourself. Don't be afraid to be by yourself for a while. And this doesn't necessarily mean with the tv or a million things to distract. Take some time in silence with yourself... and see what you hear. Your inner voice (known by names like conscience, gut, intuition, Holy Spirit, etc) has much to say and share, but you have to take time to listen in order to receive guidance. Take care of your heart and emotions as well, because without healing and some sensitivity in your heart, you will miss a lot of the love and beauty available to you. Besides, it's hard to operate in a meaningful way when you are broken and bleeding, not even attempting to deal with your stuff. And remember that you have within you what you need to get through anything. You've made it this far, right? :-) Don't quit now - there is beauty ahead.
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