We all have our guilty pleasures in life, or rather the things that we do when it’s time to practice self-care. Some of us may get our nails done, hair done, or go on a shopping spree that may leave our pockets crying the next day. For me, when it’s time to practice self-care, I do one of two things: take myself out to eat and go get a massage.
As someone who retains a lot of tension in the body due to a medical things (different story for a different day, kids), it is IMPERATIVE that I get massages to keep the tension down. Anyone with a crick in their neck or a knot in their back can attest to what tension in the body can do to you, not including ruined days, mornings, sleepless nights, and just utter discomfort.
There’s a place in Chinatown I go to, religiously. After trying out a couple of people, I finally settled down with my masseuse Steven, who doesn’t speak a lick of English and only knows how much pressure to add based on my head gestures. Steven is quite heavy-handed, and whenever I haven’t been in weeks, immediately hits nerves that make me want to scream at the top of my lungs.
But this is the thing: Steven doesn’t stop. He sees my body flinch when he hits that tension knot in the middle of my back, or how I pull my foot when he rubs into that spot that’s been giving me problems. You’d think he would move on, but you know what he does? He keeps rubbing it, and booooooooy does it hurt. Okay, so by now you’re probably wondering what on Earth I’m getting at. The world and YOU need to be like Steven.
You see, Steven knows in that moment, I want to smack him. He knows the pain he is causing, but he also knows that in a few minutes, it’ll be over and that cramp will have significantly lessened. Even a day or two after while I’m stuck in bed still sore, I immediately feel like a literal weight has been lifted. I want him to stop because of the pain, but he knows going through that pain is the only way I’ll get better.
Sometimes in life, we’re going to have to go through pain. It absolutely sucks, whether it’s physical or emotional pain. The truth is, there will be many times we just want it to stop, because unless your’e a masochist, who likes horrendous amounts of pain? But go through the pain and you will see that with time, life becomes so much better. You feel better and renewed in a way that you wouldn’t have felt before had you chosen to keep that, whatever “that” is for you.
There may be a time you yourself have to do the pain-inflicting. I know, not the most ideal. But whether a friend, a parent, significant other, sometimes you’ll have to let someone know something that may inflict some pain. My tip? If something is done in love, it will resonate as such.
What are your self-care tips?
