Keep Watch Over Yourself in Every Season
If you hold yourself dear, guard yourself well-guarded; in at least one of life's watches, let the wise stay awake and tend to themselves.
Caring for others, have I pushed the care of myself to the very last?
📝Reflection
"Guard yourself" can sound like selfishness. But the grain of this verse is different: only one who knows how to hold oneself dear can truly guard oneself. And to guard oneself means not filling one's desires, but tending one's mind awake. We often push self-care to the very last — for family, for work, for others. And then our own heart runs empty and weary. From an empty vessel, you can pour for no one. Guarding yourself is not selfishness but the foundation for giving long. The counsel to return to yourself in at least one watch of life and keep a time of wakefulness is, for that reason, the most practical wisdom.
🌱Apply It Today
Set aside even ten minutes today not for anyone else but to tend yourself. Only then can you keep giving tomorrow.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
