When did I learn how important it was to take care of myself?

 When I realized that I couldn't take care of anyone else unless I took care of myself first.

It doesn't matter how good or caring a person you are if you don't get this first. 

"IF YOU DON'T TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF YOU CANNOT HELP OR TAKE CARE OF ANYONE ELSE!"

This is a vital part of becoming an adult.

For example, I was lost in college when I first went there at 18 because I was a scientific Creationist which just means I believed in Science and religion then at 18. However, then in college I realized that many people believed there in Darwin's theory of evolution which wasn't working for me then.

So then, I had to get to where I realized there is Creationist theory and there is Darwin's Theory and both of them are theories not necessarily based in science and so I could allow myself not really to believe in either of them but this took me from about age 18 to age 21 to get there.

So, eventually logic and reason saved the day for me. However, this can cause other problems too when your belief system starts to collapse that you grew up with.

So, though my belief system blew apart by age 21 I didn't really get to a useful way of functioning until I was 25 and my girlfriend got pregnant and I needed to support the three of us and had to drop out of college to do this. I had been studying to become a psychologist. However, looking back now I am not really a good listener but I am a good person to share new things I am learning about. So, I'm actually more like a college professor in some ways even though I never did that for a living.

So, it wasn't until I had a son and a wife that I realized how important it was to take care of myself so they would be okay. This is a lot of work but if you are a real father type of person like I always was you are willing to put the work into everyone being okay. So, my adult life didn't really begin until I decided to settle down and get married and raise my son.

By God's Grace