Yes, it’s Monday morning – well, perhaps now it’s afternoon (technically), but regardless of the exact time on the clock I’m feeling a bit sarcastic today. It actually feels good to be “on my game” this morning!

The last four and a half days I was in San Diego (La Jolla to be exact – since we’re going for “technicalities” this afternoon) for another business training – always great, and I won’t get into all of that right now. I ended up with some free time on Wednesday afternoon (honestly, I planned it that way… shhh, don’t tell!), and then I found myself in the most wonderful spa at The Lodge at Torrey Pines.

Wrapped in a velvety-soft robe, sitting in the warmth of the dry sauna and sipping cucumber water to perfectly refresh my insides. Sounds divine, right? Let me tell you – it was! Plenty of time to pre-relax before my massage. Now I don’t usually indulge in more than an hour massage, but this time, for some reason (be it that I actually had the time, or that I had just had a very “illusionistic” morning of travel just to get to the hotel, let alone to the spa) I chose the 80 minute massage. I just want to relax.

Now, I also don’t usually fall asleep during a massage. I can get calm, and peaceful and completely relaxed and loose, but never have I actually zoned out and dozed off – until now. Oh my goodness was this not heaven! I didn’t snooze long, but just those thirty seconds or a minute that I did was so, SO nice.

You’re probably wondering “what does all this fancy massage spa stuff have to do with clean underwear?” Well, let me tell you: I was so relaxed from my massage, and the warm tea I enjoyed in the relaxation room afterwards as I sat snuggled in my spa robe, feet up, thumbing through a magazine, thoroughly enjoying the toasty-ness of the fireplace across the cozy room. So relaxed that when it was time to change back to reality, to shower off the massage oil, that I completely forgot to take off my underwear! Ha – you are laughing at me aren’t you? Don’t worry, I laughed out loud at myself too.

I was standing under the water, had already shampooed my hair, the dry towel was hanging on the hook outside next to my spa robe, and I realized that something wasn’t feeling right??? Something literally felt odd as I was showering off, and then I looked down to see that I was showering, completely soaked, underwear and all. Nothing else I could do but laugh about it – and think Thank goodness I had brought my bathing suit to the spa for the steam room because now I had something to wear under my jeans as I walked back from the spa to my hotel room – through the crowd of people who had already began registering for the conference!

I’ll make my point short (don’t want to give you too many more visuals…). Life is short. You work hard. You deserve to pamper and relax and indulge in yourself every now and then. It’s taken me a while to feel comfortable treating myself to such extravagant luxuries like an afternoon at the spa (and there’s probably women out there that think my little excursion was nothing), but let me tell you this – everyone has to start somewhere. I guarantee that most women didn’t just grow up going to the spa for a day and being treated like a queen (maybe there’s one or two in the world), but seriously, everyone had to start somewhere – even me.

I’m not saying your goal in life is to feel comfortable spending a day at the spa – it would be nice! – but not always necessary. Maybe the spa doesn’t appeal to you, maybe a hike to the top of a mountain where you can see for miles and miles and miles and just breathe in fresh air while taking in the vast beauty of the earth. Whatever your “treat,” whatever your indulgence – the one you think you don’t deserve – I’m here to tell you, you DO deserve it!

You MUST care for yourself, especially if you still have little ones running around at home, unknowingly trying to trip you up as they scurry beneath your feet like little kittens, purring for attention. And trust me, I know that it’s hard when you have little ones to take time away for yourself. A minute to use the bathroom by yourself seems impossible, so how in the world do you take hours away? You start somewhere. Start small. Start with a five or ten minute walk around the block. If you can’t manage that, then sit outside for five or ten minutes with a good book or a journal. But you must start somewhere. You MUST incorporate self-care into your routine, into your life – consistently. Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s necessary.

Oh, and always pack an extra pair of clean underwear!

With Love & Mommy Hugs…