Throughout life, one of the most important things you will ever learn is to put yourself first.
Those of you who have flown know about the whole speech the flight attendant gives and those of you who haven't flown have probably seen it on a movie. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, essentially the flight attendant explains where the exits are, how to put on your seat belt, and how various safety devices work. One of these safety devices is the oxygen masks.
If the air cabin pressure decreases and the amount of breathable air diminishes (or something), these masks fall down in front of you from the ceiling. Without fail, every time you hear the flight attendant speech, you will hear them tell you to put your mask on first before assisting others. This same information is also located on the safety pamphlet and if your flight attendant speech comes with a video, you will most likely see a parent putting on their own mask before helping their child.
So why do you have to put on your own mask first?
If you think about it, the reason will become fairly obvious. Let's say you're surrounded by a crowd of 10 people that need oxygen masks, but for some reason these people are unable to put them on. In the first scenario, you immediately leap into action and start putting masks on the other people, but only manage to assist 5 out of the 10 people before becoming light headed and passing out. In the second scenario, you take a few seconds to attach your own mask before helping the other people and manage to save all of them. If you do not put on your own mask first, your ability to help people decreases dramatically.
The same principle can be applied to other aspects of your life. If you do not take care of yourself before taking care of others, you will find yourself unable to help as many people. It may seem heroic and wonderful to leap in there without your own oxygen mask, but in reality, it hurts everyone. You don't see firefighters jumping onto the firetruck before they equip their safety gear. Maybe one person is worse off because they take those extra few minutes, but in the end, more lives are saved than would have been otherwise.
Now let's talk about a current event: Zayn left One Direction.
Tons of fans are angry about Zayn's departure from the band, but I think it's a good thing. I know that the music will change and the other members will have to work a little bit harder to compensate for their bandmate's absence, but Zayn did exactly what I have been talking about and put himself first. By leaving the band, Zayn became a living example as someone who is willing to put their needs before others. And I am all for leading by example.
There's no saying how exactly this change is going to affect the band. Maybe Zayn will return some day or maybe he won't, but I am confident that if Zayn had stayed and continued pushing himself when he needed to take a break, the band would have been worse off. Perhaps Zayn's staying could have resulted in the dissolution of the band entirely. I'm sure their fans would be even more upset about that.
So next time you think about getting mad at Zayn or anyone else in similar positions, take a step back and remember how important it is to put yourself first. Admire them and follow their example. There are a lot of people who need help putting their masks on out there and you won't be able to help them if you aren't breathing too.
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