According to the Urban Dictionary a guilty pleasure is something that you take pleasure in but won’t admit because you are afraid of being judged for it.  Maybe it’s one of these…

Clothes/Shoes
Who doesn’t like some quality clothing?  Those cute shorts.  That beautiful dress.  All those adorable jumpsuits (play suits in the UK) that were the thing this summer.  My favorite is a thick, soft sweater dress and some nice boots for the winter to look nice and be comfortably warm.

Cosmetics
The colors are so vibrant this year.  The new trends are exciting.  I had to talk myself out of buying a lot of new things that I got excited about.   The color palettes for eye shadows and lip glosses are very enticing.  I still have my eye on several.

Rich and Decadent Food
I know some people who allow themselves a cheat or treat meal every so often.  Sometimes this is an evening out enjoying the company of good people eating great food.  Other times it is satisfying that craving for sushi and sake.  Maybe it is occasionally indulging in that day’s food holiday.

Smell Goods (as my little one called them)
Lotions, butters, body spray, bath oils, and perfumes.  Oh what heavenly scents to have and change according to your mood or season of the year.  I am guilty of this one.  I love pleasing scents and I love to smell pleasing.

Massages
Visiting a stranger to get undressed so they can knead your flesh into jelly.  Before my first time I thought “No way, I don’t want someone touching me” but after I have to say my ultimate self care is getting massages.  I love them so much I like to introduce others to this amazing experience.  It only took 30 minutes to talk my sister into her first massage, and she gets glossy eyed whenever she talks about it still four years later.

Binge Watching Television Shows
I have been guilty of watching an entire season of a show in one afternoon.  I have even used this as a tool to get my kids to help me clean the house (ask me down below).  I am one of those people who hardly watches television unless I’m learning something from it or someone’s quality of life is being improved by the show, like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, or Kitchen Nightmares.

Faith
Spending time in solitude or in groups to grow your faith in your higher power, be it in  God, the Universe or any source of great blessings and miracles.  Being a Christian I love to indulge in lots of worship music, read a lot of spiritual books, and get into my bible studies.  I watch sermons any day (sometimes everyday) of the week but especially on Sunday.

Video Games
Some of us need to plug in to unwind.  Sometimes going on a murderous rampage in Call of Duty helps blow off the stream from work.  I’m sure that this one gets a bad wrap because those who unwind in this way lose all track of time, I know this from experience.  When emerging hours later from a game that was supposed to last twenty minutes, because one round lead to five or the one round lasted four hours.  It happens!

Going out with Friends
An evening out is so much fun.  Going out for a meal, for coffee, to play a sport, take a class, or participate in a hobby.  I think my most favorite outings are to have a coffee or meal and talk or to create something like painting pottery or Arty Parties.  I know I really like these outings and sometimes stay too long because I’m enjoying my time with friends.

I want to tell you that these self care habits are completely normal.  The reasons we feel guilty about these or any other healthy self care habits are because of the judgment we receive from others.  At some point maybe we were irresponsible with our time or money over indulging.  Although we have learned from life’s lessons, quite possibly our family or friends have some sort of fear that you will spend all your money on Armani and ask them to borrow money for your car payment.  Maybe they envy the fact that you can participate in these sorts of self care rituals, in which case invite them along.   Or maybe they feel guilty about treating themselves to these things and insist that you should too, like parental pass it down guilt.

If we are responsible and even budget (time and/or finances) in our self care, we shouldn’t feel guilty about taking care of ourselves. We need to remember that our self care is about taking care of ourselves regardless of what others think about it.  Giving up caring what others think of the things that make us happy and keep us going is a definite must.  What would be your guilty pleasure self care habit?