If you have spent any time on any sort of millennial health blog or scrolled through a sorority girl's Instagram you’ve probably heard of the concept of “self-care.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines self-care as “care for oneself.” This definition, at least to me, seems somewhat vague and rather unspecific. It leaves a lot open to interpretation. There are a variety of ways to approach the concept of caring for yourself and the interpretation kind of changes from person to person.

The interpretation that has seemed to become popular among young people today is that self-care is about making yourself feel good. It’s about improving the mental state of mind through relaxation and “me time.” In order to accomplish this, I have seen people turn to face masks and salt baths to help relax and rejuvenate. I have seen girls on twitter call for nights in eating snacks and watching Netflix as a way to destress oneself.

Young people have begun to associate self-care with enjoyable activities that make them feel better mentally. The line between “treat yo self” and “self-care” has become blurred. Self-care has become a treat rather than a necessity, and that’s where young people have it wrong.

Self-care shouldn’t be about what’s doing what’s fun and enjoyable but rather about doing what is necessary for your mind and body to function to its fullest extent. It is doing what is needed to stay mentally and physically healthy. It isn’t always fun taking care of yourself. It isn’t necessarily fun to make sure you’re taking care of your body. Eating healthy and exercising doesn’t exactly top my favorite ten things to do, but it’s necessary to help your body function to its best ability.

Self-care is all about balance. It’s about balancing the fun and stressful moments of life with the less enjoyable necessary things. That face mask you did the other day won’t help your skin much if you forget to take the time to wash your face before bed. Self-care is a way to restore balance in life.

Self-care is sort of like paddling a kayak. When paddling a kayak, in order to reach the place you want to go, you have to be willing to paddle on both the left and the right side. Even if you want to steer your kayak slightly to the left or right, you still have to paddle on both sides so you aren’t just going in a circle. You have to have a balance of both sides to get where you want to go.

In life, you have to have that same balance. You have to be willing to balance stress and fun with health necessity. Self-care is staying home on a weekend while your friends go out so you can study. Self-care is going to bed early the night before a test. Self-care is making sure you eat enough during a busy day. No matter which direction you want to go in life, you need balance to do it.

Self-care is realizing that even if you want to angle your kayak to the left, you’re going to have to paddle right a little in order to reach your goal.