For those that don't know, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I'm not a birthday person. To be completely honest, it's more than that; I really don't like to be the center of attention at all. It doesn't matter if it's receiving gifts at the holidays or celebrating my own successes, I would much rather be the giver than the recipient, which is probably why a whole day, or multiple days, focused solely on me is not normally at the top of my priority list......Until now. My birthday was this past Thursday and as I work through my self-care transformation journey, I'm slowly starting to realize that not only do I matter, but that it's important to occasionally reward myself. With this in mind, what better time than one's birthday to take advantage and do something totally nontraditional and 100% centered around me? Once I got the idea of a mini getaway in my head, there was no stopping me. I went into full planning mode and it didn’t take long for all the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place. As the days grew closer I was like a kid in a candy store with happiness literally oozing out of me in anticipation of the time ahead. Finally the day came and I was punching our first stop into Waze: a large designer outlet mall in New York that sat halfway between home and our final destination, Mohonk Mountain House and Spa. The outlet was a huge success and after a few hours we were loading multiple shopping bags into the car and getting back on the road. We arrived at Mohonk Mountain House and spent the next few days eating, hiking, exploring the property, working out, trying new things and most importantly, relaxing. We even did a little ice-skating at the most beautiful ice skating pavilion I've ever seen. Maybe it was the fresh air or beautiful scenery, but completely out of character, I pushed aside all the normal excuses, laced up my skates and for the first time in over twenty years headed out onto the ice; no fear, no worries, just immense fun.
I could go on and on about the rest of our trip with an overly detailed account of all the amazing adventures, but truth be told, it really doesn’t matter. This week's blog isn’t about splurging on food, hiking in the mountains, shopping sprees, taking a dip in the outdoor mineral pool, or even the most amazing signature couples' massage; this week's blog is about taking a minute to celebrate and recognize all the hard work and major milestones we achieve each and every day. It really doesn't matter if it’s your birthday, a new job, a finished project, or even just the end of a long day; we all work so hard and it’s super easy to focus on negatives and what we could've done better, but its equally important to recognize all the good things we accomplish each and every day.
A little bit of positive talk and self reward can go a long way to recharging your batteries and setting you up to tackle what lies ahead. That to-do list you've got written down isn’t going anywhere in fact is probably only going to get bigger, so why not take a minute and lift your head to pat yourself on the back for all your hard work? We both know you deserve it and no one else is going to do it for you. Trust me, you'll realize quickly that it's totally worth it and not only will you be glad you did it you might find yourself looking for more opportunities to raise a glass and celebrate.
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