When you fly on an airplane with children, the flight attendants are always careful to say that in the event the oxygen masks should fall, you must put on your own mask before helping the children.

It might sound selfish at first, but think about it for just a second and it’s easy to see that if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to help anyone else. That goes for a lot more than oxygen masks, too.

We are all caregivers. We take care of children, parents, spouses, friends, or whoever it is that needs us. And while we do it out of love, that doesn’t mean it isn’t draining.

In life, as in airplanes, you’ve got to take care of yourself if you’re going to be able to take care of others.

For writers, that means making time to write.