“If life started at least twice in our solar system, then you know the universe is full of life,” McKay says. We’ve agreed to begin looking at self-care as a long-term pursuit, one in which taking care of our inner and outer selves are equal parts of the equation. When you can identify your values and make choices that align with them, life suddenly becomes a little easier. Over the past few weeks of our Self-Care Series, we’ve defined self-care, examined the reasons why it’s so hard to consistently engage in self-care practices, and made a case for why self-care does not need to be an individual pursuit. If we define life as a “self-sustaining system capable of Darwinian evolution,” I cannot see any legitimate reason to deny self-replicating ribozymes or viruses the moniker of life. Everyone knows that, despite its supposed nine lives, curiosity killed the cat. The 'killed the cat' proverb originated as 'care killed the cat'. So, why is self-care important? As hinted above, there are many benefits of self-care. By 'care' the coiner of the expression meant 'worry/sorrow' rather than our more usual contemporary 'look after/provide for' meaning. No doubt you worry about the state of the environment on planet Earth. One of the most popular origin tales starts with none other than St. Nicholas—yes, he was a real person. Did humans evolve in a straight line, one species after another? If it is, that greatly raises the possibility that life exists on other planets. Most ozone resides in the stratosphere (a layer of the atmosphere between 10 and 40 km above us), where it acts as a shield to protect Earth's surface from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. "We need to remember the universe, to study the cosmic story, the Earth story, the human story, until we know it in its essential forms... to know the story of life includes eating natural foods; to know the story of human civilizations means feeling the profound intuitions they achieved; and to know the story of the universe means to allow the great numinous past to come alive in your present being. We make decisions based on our values every day, but we sometimes forget about the important decisions we face, big and small, and the potential stress those choices can create. Our family of origin is the family we were born or adopted into. Life. At least, those are the official statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:. And yet, for most of us it is obvious that … People receiving care expect it to be right for them consistently throughout every stage of their life. In the hospital, patients or family members have to make hard decisions about whether to start, continue, or stop aggressive treatments that may make the patient live longer, but do not improve the patient's quality of life . It’s time to put that guilt away, because the effects are magical, and the results are practically life-changing. With a weakening of this shield, we would be more susceptible to skin cancer, cataracts and impaired immune systems. Why It’s Important to Take Care of Yourself. Since parenting shapes a child’s core beliefs about himself or herself, our family’s beliefs about what it means to be human and the purpose of life will have a tremendous influence on what we learn and how we … Because information is … By Wendy Lu. It lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. Before the public learned the name of a white woman who called the police on a Black man in Central Park on May 25, she could easily be identified by a moniker. Competence means we have the knowledge and skills to do the job and the capability to deliver the highest standards of care based on … But humans and chimpanzees evolved differently from that same ancestor. Delivering high quality care is what we do. We have also made incredible advances in understanding life, including the complex molecular processes occurring within each living cell.