When I was in nursing school, I was introduced to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Basically, the gist is this: everything we “need” for human survival can fit into a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid, the largest part, are your most basic needs: food, clothing, water, shelter. And as you move up, there are smaller needs (ie. friendship, companionship, acceptance). Still equally as important as the bottom tiers, but less vital for survival, hence smaller. After all, if you’re starving to death a spa day may seem a little secondary, right?
It donned on me this week, as I was sick and solely concentrating on my body‘s survival, that we live in a society that has the privilege of not worrying a lot about the bottom rung. Thankfully, most of us know where our next meal is coming from.
But the downfall to accessibility and ease is that we get a lot of free time to focus (or obsess) on the upper tiers. “Does everyone like me? Am I smart enough? Am I too fat? Too thin? How can I be better? What about my dreams? How can I achieve them? What if I never do? Will I be enough?”
A lot of stress can come from that constant questioning of yourself—believe me, I know. Those scripts run through my head multiple times a day. But when my bottom rung was threatened this week, when I was forced to only focus on food, and water, and rest, I remembered that sometimes taking care of your most basic needs is the ticket to quieting the chatter. When I start to spiral, I often want the answers to the world—when really all I should be getting is a glass of water.
So, feeling a little crazy? Grab some comfort food. Worried about meeting the right man? Finding the right friends? Head to your bed, turn on Bravo, or book that GNO. I think the answers to some of our highest tier questions can be found by making sure our lowest level needs are fully met.
I’m pretty sure someone super wise (by the name of Drake) once said, “Started from the bottom now I’m here.”
Try it this week. Food, water, a warm bed, rest. All else will be revealed soon enough.
To More Love,
Stephanie
