Mama On: Taking Care Of Yourself

"It's always the shoemaker who has no shoes -- and that's not right."

My mother was a font of "Old Wives Tales," and I spent a lot of my childhood and youth wondering who those old wives were, and where she'd met them. I was even kind of curious as to why she bothered listening to them. As I've gotten older, I've noticed that my mother not only quoted the tales, she fixed and amended them.

Case in point: "it's always the shoemaker who has no shoes." In my mother's eyes, any woman with enough talent to make shoes should always have some to wear -- and they should look and feel good. As a practicing Mamaknologist, she applied this to life. The Mamaknology take on this is that if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of anyone else, and the intent is anything but selfish. As a Mamaknologist, you are dedicated to always doing your best. You are also dedicated to making sure that those around you look their best, but this never means that YOU don't deserve to reap the benefits of your best.

My mother used to say that a woman should ALWAYS keep a bit of her best for herself. She would in fact, warn me, my friends, her friends, and anyone else she could catch, that giving away everything left you with nothing to give -- not even to yourself.

So, invest in yourself. Make the doctor's appointment. Have the mamogram. Give yourself a few minutes for yoga or stretching. And, for as long as the option exists, pick up the phone and call your mama.