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Self-Advocacy: The Importance of Advocating on Your Own Behalf

When it comes to your health, your family’s well-being and your end-of-life wishes you’ve got to advocate on your own behalf for several good reasons.
The Importance of Advocating on Your Own Behalf
When it comes to your health, your family’s well-being and your end-of-life wishes you’ve got to advocate on your own behalf for several good reasons.

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Often we don’t fight hard enough for ourselves the way that we do for loved ones. We don’t advocate for ourselves like we probably should. Being selfless is a noble trait, but there are times when it’s important to put yourself first.

Advocating on your own behalf, also known as self-advocacy, means that you are looking out for your best interests. You’re representing yourself and informing yourself so that you can make the most sound decisions. Not only do you speak up, but you speak effectively so that others understand your thoughts and feelings. 

The perfect example of advocating for yourself is getting a second opinion if a diagnosis seems off or your physician is unsure what is troubling you. Instead of worrying about whether you’ll offend your doctor, you made the decision to put your health first and get checked out by another expert. 

Others Will Make Decisions for You If You Don’t Self-Advocate

The bottomline is this – if you don’t make your interests known and advocate for yourself others are going to make the decisions. And those decisions can have a real effect on your life, health and family.

That’s why we always encourage people to plan end-of-life services well in advance and make sure they make all their wishes known in writing. This includes a last will and testament as well as power of attorney. Basically, you are ensuring you can advocate for yourself even if you aren’t physically able to do so. 

No One Knows Your Body/Life/Needs More Than You

Self-advocacy is extremely important because no one can make a decision for your life better than you. That’s because no one knows you as well as you know yourself. If you feel like something is not in your best interest, even if someone else is making the decision thinking they have your best interest in mind, it’s time to speak up and be your own advocate.

When You Advocate for Yourself You’re More Likely to Get What You Want

Advocating for yourself means making sure your interests and needs are known. In other words, the things you want to have or have happen are made clear. When you advocate for yourself you’re taking an active role rather than a passive role in getting those things, which makes it more likely you’ll get them. 

If you don’t advocate for yourself you’ll have to take what’s offered even if it isn’t the ideal option. Someone else is determining what you will or won’t get. Simply asking for what you want or need can increase your chances that you’ll get it because people aren’t mind readers. Advocating for yourself is a way of communicating clearly so that others understand your needs. 

With Self-Advocacy You’ll Get Answers to Your Questions

One aspect of self-advocacy is speaking up when you aren’t clear about something. Too often we don’t want to be a bother or make the other person feel like they didn’t communicate well if we don’t understand. So we let it slide, which may not be in our best interest. 

Simply asking a question when you are unsure is self-advocacy. You are taking initiative to make sure you have all the information you need, even if that means it needs to be explained again. 

Self-Advocacy Makes You Feel Stronger and More Self-Sufficient 

Self-advocacy is empowering. You aren’t left feeling like you were ignored or that you let others call the shots for you. Advocating for yourself makes your voice heard. It gives you more control and ownership. You’ll also feel less reliant on others to get what you need.

One of the biggest benefits of self-advocacy is that it makes you stronger and more self-sufficient. And the more you advocate for yourself and get what you need you’ll become more confident too.

At Green Cremation Texas we advocate for our clients every step of the way so that your voice is always heard. We work one-on-one with families to ensure our green cremation services meet their every expectation and answer any questions they have about the process.

You can give us a call, email or text 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Marlaena Gonzales

Marlaena Gonzales

Funeral Director
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