Because taking care of yourself is your most important job.

It’s pretty safe to say that Lena Dunham knows a thing or two about being successful. She’s the star of her own HBO show on which she has even written and directed a few episodes, she’s a best-selling author, and she’s created quite the reputation for telling it like it is and being a good role model. 

Lena is constantly working and being as successful as she is means that you get to take very few days off, but Lena knows when those days are necessary and not to power through it if you really can’t. Some days you might wake up and genuinely not feel able to do what you’re supposed to do that day, and that is OK. 

It’s ok to not feel good and it’s ok to take some time to let your body recover from a sickness or too much stress or whatever it may be. 

When Lena had to cancel an upcoming book signing because she wasn’t feeling well, she politely apologized via social media to her fans, but the comments she received in response were far from understanding. 

Lena screen shotted and posted one of the comments to her Instagram and then captioned the photo with this: 

“This was a response yesterday when I said I would be cancelling an appearance at a bookstore because I was sick. At first it made me laugh a lot- like, oh, I’m sorry, I left your award in the car. But then I really contemplated how dark it is that our culture prizes these speedy recovery narratives because guess what? They’re actually ways to keep women from feeling fucking pissed that they don’t have proper maternity leave or medical and family care resources. We may not have an imminent policy change on the way, but we can change the way we talk about this stuff, and treat childbirth (or fatherhood! Or illness!) as the serious and personal journeys that they are.#leftyourawardinthecar #nooffense#paidfamilyleaveforall“

See the post below:

Thanks Lena for reminding us that sometimes life can be a little overwhelming and that taking time for yourself is ALWAYS OK.