Recently, I opened a bottle of Cava on a Saturday morning.
No birthday.
No big celebration.
No special occasion.
Simply because I felt like it.
A friend replied:
“Treat yourself.”
That phrase stayed with me.
Because how often do we actually say that?
We treat ourselves to an ice cream.
A glass of wine.
A long breakfast.
A new pair of shoes, a nice dinner, or a weekend by the sea.
Indulgence often seems connected to things we can buy, eat, or drink.
This Midsummer was different.
There was no glass of wine.
Instead, I treated myself to a glass of quiet.
A little distance from all those thoughts that always seem to show up right on time.
The worries.
The self-doubt.
Am I good enough?
Am I doing enough?
Am I achieving enough?
Should I have done more?
What if it doesn’t work out?
For this Midsummer weekend, those voices got some time off.
As daylight still lingered around midnight, I realised how rarely we allow ourselves exactly that.
Quiet.
Trust.
Stillness.
Simply the moment itself.
The sun.
The scent of summer.
And the feeling that life doesn’t always have to be evaluated, optimised, or analysed.
Sometimes the greatest form of enjoyment is not found by searching for it somewhere outside ourselves.
Sometimes it comes from letting something go.
Because often it has been waiting within us all along.
In a moment of ease.
In a deep breath.
In the trust that life has something beautiful in store for us.
Since then, I have liked the phrase “Treat yourself” a little bit more.
Because sometimes it means an ice cream.
Sometimes a glass of sparkling wine.
And sometimes it means sending your self-doubt on vacation for a little while and letting life have the final word.
Let’s allow ourselves that.
