I suck at self-care.  My eating habits are trash.  My exercise habits are nonexistent and I generally operate on about 5 -6 hours of sleep.  I work myself until exhaustion, and then I try to work through that exhaustion.

Except, on my birthday, which happened to be yesterday.  Once a year, I splurge on unnecessary spa treatments.  Because it’s my birthday, all my meals are either free or discounted, so I usually get the drink, or the dessert, and in certain restaurants, I have both.

Anyway, yesterday, I gave my neglected outer shell some much needed attention, and it did wonders for my inner-self.  Here’s a recap:

The first activity was hydrotherapy.  I had the choice of a steam shower, the sauna, or a hydrotherapy bath.  If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking, l know this heifer didn’t pay to sit in a bath tub for 20 minutes.”  Actually, I did.  And I will probably do it again.  I have 3 kids!  My oldest is twelve.  That means I have not had an uninterrupted bath in 13 years.  I DESERVE!

In the midst of all that quiet, I could hear the Master’s voice. So we talked and it was beautiful… and while we still ain’t quite seeing eye to eye, I do have a better perspective about some of the things happening around me.

Next, was a much needed massage.    Get one.  A good masseur/masseuse will change your life.

Then I had a facial.  Get your minds out of the gutter, people.  There was a certified aesthetician involved.  Here’s something you don’t know until you get one:  A good facial includes neck and shoulder exfoliation, cleansing and massage.  For the first time, I had something called an extraction.  Here’s the process, they put steam on your face, to draw the impurities to the surface.    Then they wash the surface dirt away.  Then, they apply specialized tools to pull away the nasty stuff that’s just under the surface.  It hurts.  It is also a perfect methaphor for everything happening in my life right now.  I cannot tell whether i’m Still under the steam, or in the extraction stage, but I know for sure i’m not fully clean.  I finished the day with a mani/pedi… because I am supposed to live as the hands and feet of Jesus, not that my hands and feet have to look like His.

I learned so much on my birthday this year.  And while I might not follow all the recommendations, (there’s no way I have time to exfoliate twice a week, but maybe I can moisturize twice a day,)  there were some great take aways:

1) My body is sacred.  Abusing my body as I have been doing is sacreligious.

2) Extractions are painful but they are worth it in the end.

3) I am worth every doggone penny I spent.

Happy birthday to me!

Mama Radford