"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom" - Aristotle.

The importance of time to yourself is underrated. Taking time for yourself doesn't mean you're antisocial. It doesn't categorize you as an introvert. It simply means you understand your personal need to be alone.

You don't need other people around you to be entertained. You don't need constant energy from others. You don't need to hear the opinions and ideas of others. You can toy with your own.

You are OK with yourself. You are comfortable with your own person and like contemplating your own thoughts.

Taking alone time is good for your soul. It's necessary. Whether it means catching up on a book you haven't picked up since the summer or writing for the blog you haven't posted on in months, it's calming.

If you cannot be comfortable with just yourself, how can you expect anyone else to be?

It's reconnecting with yourself and your needs.

We are constantly pushing aside our personal needs to accommodate the needs of others or societal demands. The more we do this, the more we fail to meet these needs.

We have to help ourselves before we help others. We need that me time. We crave that me time.

We need an occasional spa day or just an occasional "I'm going to spoil myself" day.

Having this is essential. While we absolutely love being with our friends, we also have a natural need to take a break. It can be exhausting to run around keeping up with our jobs, our schoolwork and our social life. A few hours or even a night to ourselves can make all the difference.

Think of it as a recharge. We are reconnecting to ourselves (our main power source) and reevaluating the priorities that are most important in our lives.

When we take me time, we find ourselves in a state of relaxation. We are laid back, we are alone with our thoughts and we are finding ourselves again. It may be in exercise, it may be in Netflix, it may be in reading or it may be in listening to music. No matter what the situation is we choose to put ourselves in, it is an environment that we chose for ourselves. It is where we feel the most comfortable.

Me time is necessary. We need it to grow, we need it to be able to later interact with others and most importantly, we need it for the personal gain.

Take me time. Take it for yourself, take it for your friends, take it because you sincerely deserve it.