Let's Not Forget to Polish Ourselves for Others

 

We have talked and learned about discrimination against immigrants and how we can address it, but what about ourselves? When we can’t even take care of ourselves and keep ourselves healthy, we can’t take care of, understand, and emphasize with others. Self care includes things that are very simple such as eating healthy and exercising well. These sound very easy, but they are the most important aspects in our lives because they are the basis of our wellbeing. If we are not physically healthy, our mind will not be capable of dealing with other aspects in our lives such as work and relationships with others. Mental health is also very important, of course. We should integrate some activities, such as seeing friends, doing something fun everyday, finding ways to relax, etc. in our daily lives in order to stay mentally healthy (Mental Health America, n.d.). Benefits of self care are significant because self care does not only help us to stay healthy but also makes us better carer for others (Stiver, 2021).

However, how does self care contribute to eliminating discrimination against immigrants? As mentioned above, self care simply allows us to be more empathetic for others. If we are healthy and positive, we are more capable of thinking about others and taking action for them, while when we are unhealthy and negative, we are too busy to care about others. Also, self care allows us to be aware of our own feelings and behaviors, and according to Youmans (n.d.), self-awareness is one of the most beneficial strategies to address unconscious bias, which is the major reason why people discriminate against immigrants. Therefore, if we care about, know, and observe ourselves well, we are more likely to realize what kind of bias we have and how that affects our behaviors. For example, a teacher, who takes good care of herself and knows about her own emotions and behaviors well, is more likely to realize herself feeling reluctant for having students whose first languages are not English. However, on the other hand, a teacher, who is too busy dealing with his difficult student to take care of himself and is always stressed out, cannot even realize such a small reluctant feeling in him for the same situation. If they can’t catch themselves for having bias, they can never address it.

Therefore, I need you to first focus on self care so that you can be more empathetic and careful for others. Please know that all of your emotions and actions come from your physical and mental conditions, and the healthier you are the more positive impact you give to others. Self care also allows you to realize and evaluate your own emotions and actions that you wouldn’t notice if you are not careful with yourself. This is very important especially if you are influential to many people, such as an educator or an executive member of a company. Please take care of yourself and be positive and healthy so everyone, including you and people around you, can be happy, and you can contribute to eliminating discrimination against immigrants.

Grow yourself to make others happy. — We all should first take care of, grow, and be willing to change ourselves in order to positively impact other people. If we all are healthier and happier, we can overcome discrimination more quickly and effectively.

Information References

Mental Health America. (n.d.). Taking good care of yourself. https://www.mhanational.org/taking-good-care-yourself

Stiver, S. (2021). What is self-care and how do the benefits impact daily life? Createjoy. https://www.cratejoy.com/box-insider/why-is-self-care-important-and-the-benefits/

Youmans, S. (n.d.). Strategies to address unconscious bias. UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach. https://diversity.ucsf.edu/resources/strategies-address-unconscious-bias

Media Reference

Ramesh, P. Self-care. https://www.genderit.org/feminist-talk/politics-self-care-and-feminism