I had the good fortune to spend this past Saturday with my Personal Board of Directors… otherwise known as my BFF’s.  One of the agenda items during our meeting was a visit to a lovely Spa that is about an hour from my house. It was a reunion of sorts, as we had spent a weekend there two years ago to celebrate a milestone birthday.

We each selected one spa treatment for a bit of spoiling.  For one it was a pedicure, for another a facial…and for myself and the fourth Board Member, we chose massages.  The Spa was very busy with lots of Real Women in search of pampering.  There was a fairly large group of young women there as part of a bachelorette weekend before a wedding. There were mother and daughter teams. There were groups of friends like us.  And there appeared to be just a few enviable women who apparently made these Spa visits a regular agenda item in their usual schedules.  When I commented to my massage therapist on the number of women there that day, she replied “oh, it is usually this busy on a Saturday.”  Wow.

In my little group, we had purposefully arrived a bit early so we could relax in our comfy white robes and enjoy some of the Spa’s other amenities, like the whirlpool, relaxation room, or lovely gardens.  The treatments were wonderful.  During my massage, I had kinks and knots worked out that I didn’t even know existed. I could have used a giant spatula to scrape me off the table when it was over.

For at least a half an hour after our treatments, the four of us just sat outside, not saying much at all.  We were enjoying a rare moment of complete relaxation.   As I watched other women padding around calmly and happily in their robes and flip-flops, I realized how much we all need this.  We were all willing to do what we believed we couldn’t “afford” to do… we some how found the funds to pay for the services, and we somehow arranged time in our crazy schedules to be there for those hours, or those days, depending on our length of stay.

Perhaps the actual services themselves aren’t really the point. Certainly, we could survive without perfectly polished toes, we could get by without clear and glowing skin, and we can function without having our muscles and joints worked out.  The importance of the Spa treatments is just that – we, Real Women, are the ones being treated.  We spend our lives beating the clock and taking care of others.  For the short time we are at the Spa, we are the ones being taken care of. We are being treated like royalty, we are being waited on, spoiled, indulged and pampered.  For those hours, we are in a safe and extraordinarily comfortable and relaxing environment.  The rest of the world melts away – even if it is for just those 50 minutes while lavender and jasmine oil is being rubbed on our skin and the soothing spa music is flowing over us.

We walk away changed, refreshed, relaxed and rejuvenated. Even for just a little while.  And we know that every cent we paid, and every minute we gave up to escape, was worth it.