Imagine me at 3 a.m. — munching on some McDonald’s and feeding that stress-related metaphorical wound that struck after finishing half of my to-do list. I need to switch back to drinking tea before my heart jumps out of me, and maybe one day I’ll get more than five hours of sleep. But for now, I like to find my own ways of encouraging myself after a day that always ends up feeling like the end of the world.
Me being me, whenever I have a question about anything, I turn to my trusty friend Pinterest or use a good-ole Google search. While I was researching the best ways to treat yourself, most of the things that I found were from more than a year ago or had no ideas that I liked. From creating a bucket list to self-care ideas that we should be more open to doing for ourselves often, I couldn’t find something that made me say “Yes, that’s the one!” (except for anything involving eating). Now, what works for me isn’t going to be the same thing that will work for the next person. However, it still wouldn’t hurt to discuss what works for me and why.
What’s a good way to treat yourself? When should we treat ourselves and when shouldn’t we? How often can we treat ourselves, and what counts? Should we even spoil ourselves at all? These questions, and many more, float in my head daily. The only answer I currently have is this: why the f*ck not! When I reflect on things I’m grateful for, I always include treating myself. It gives me something to look forward to, and not only does it makes me want to do things better, but it makes what I have achieved feel grander.
Here are some things I like to treat myself to:
- Taking an hour to enjoy a film
- Painting a picture to reflect on how I’m feeling
- Buying myself something to help the process (such as health products or career items)
- Taking my dog to the park and getting to play with her in her favorite place
- Treating myself to an ice cream
- Shopping for clothes and make-up
- Planting new babies to place on my balcony
- Finding free Facebook events near me
- Having photoshoots with my friends
Even though these are simple things, they leave a positive impact on my life. Having something to look forward to isn’t a bad thing, and we shouldn’t look at it as if it is. We should enjoy the pleasures of life while we can and while we still have them at our grasp. Living life to the fullest is hard work, but it shouldn’t only be hard.