Pamper self day

I recently read that July 16 is official "Wear Shorts Day." Really? I need an official day, as a reminder to wear shorts? How ridiculous! I wear shorts every day, year round (when I'm at home, which is most of the time). But, then I remembered how, a year or so ago, I realized one day that I needed to put a reminder on my calendar to remind myself of something very, very important. Way more important than wearing shorts at least once a year, but actually kind of similar.

I wrote on my calendar (and blocked out the whole day), Pamper Self Day, and I scheduled it for every single Sunday, from that day forward. I had come to realize that I needed to take care of me in a gentle, loving, and allowing way. It was imperative to put myself first; to fill up my cup so it could runneth over to others. But, no matter how often I promised myself that I would "take that bath," or "go for a hike," or "read a magazine," something else would always take precedence.

So, I decided to put myself on my calendar, making every Sunday (just my day of choice), Pamper Self Day, which meant it was a day to do anything I wanted to do; especially those things I thought of as being frivolous, such as taking a bath, eating whatever food I enjoyed, watching Hallmark movies all day, going for a hike, or whatever. The day had to be all about pampering me, even if it meant that I really, truly felt like cleaning the garage and would have fun doing it. Pampering myself became my job; as important as paying bills, washing the car (which used to get more baths than I did!) or running errands, and, because it was on my calendar, I treated it as an important part of my “work” to be done. Pending a major emergency, no one could interfere with it.

It not only worked, but there was an interesting side effect of spending Sundays pampering myself. In addition to Pamper Self days, there started to be Pamper Self Hours, or Pamper Self Five Minutes, or Pamper Self Moments in my week. More baths, more cups of coffee out on the balcony. I bought magazines I wanted to read, and read them. Everything else that needed to get done, got done with more joy, and it all added up to a much more nurtured and balanced me. Pampering myself became my new healthy habit.

Most of all, Pamper Self Day made me realize, at last, that I'm a pretty important part of my life.