I have a friend who takes a bubble bath almost every night.  I know this because if I call her in the evening and we’re on the phone around 9pm she politely ends the call, and with a little excitement in her voice says it’s time for her bubbly.  At first I thought it was weird that she was telling me she’s going to drink champagne.  But over time I’ve come to learn that her little indulgence is a nightly bubble bath.

I think we all know someone who has their thing – daily latte, new music downloads, good chocolate. I don’t really have an indulgence, but if pressed, I’d probably say it’s chocolate.  But, honestly, if my indulgence is going to be chocolate it’s going to be really good chocolate.  About a year ago I discovered what is, for me, the best chocolate.  It’s made in San Francisco and BabyGirl and I took a tour of the TCHO Chocolate company and fell in love.  Just writing about it makes my mouth water!

Growing up, I never saw my mom do things for herself.  My grandma would get her hair fixed every Sunday and then go play bingo.  I guess bingo was her thing.  Sometimes I would go with her.  It was a lot of fun, and I guess that was her indulgence.  But when I think of my friends, I see women who now, in their 40s and 50s, are starting to realize that doing for themselves doesn’t require breaking the bank every time.  In life, now, we see that it really is the little things that often make us the happiest.

I love that my friend’s indulgence is her bubble bath.  I have a difficult time when it comes to food being a reward or a treat.  Yes, my own neuroses with body issues.  But I think that a reward other than food is something that can truly nourish our heart and our soul.  Even if it’s a book or technology, it brings together the concept of body, mind and spirit to help make us whole again after the rigors of a hectic day.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to better understand some of the special characteristics of the women I’ve admired.  I’ve learned little things from each of them.  From my Auntie Emma I learned that I should indulge my senses and eat off the fine china and drink from the crystal because the food will taste better, not because it really does but because I treat myself special enough to allow myself the time to truly enjoy my meal.  My Grandma continues to encourage me to slow down and indulge in a good book, to feed my mind daily.  My friend JoAnn showed me that taking care of yourself first meant that you could then truly take care of other people.

We should each have that ‘something special’ we do for ourselves.  To indulge ourselves doesn’t have to be a bad thing.  It’s not about excess.  Rather, having something we can indulge in that can gratify our whole self is truly a gift.

How do you indulge and nurture yourself?

[photo by SweetOnVeg]

Editor’s note: This post was written by Sara Hawkins, author of the Saving for Someday blog.