A Modern Guide to Indulging Yourself in the 21st Century

Indulging yourself in today’s world can be a challenge. It is almost like we have too many options to decide about how to celebrate or indulge ourselves. It would be best if you didn’t let the little reasons to celebrate get away from you.

There are so many options available to celebrate the big milestones and to provide you with a simple reward for a job well done. Having something to look forward to and to indulge yourself in can be a great motivator in life.

Why It is Important to Indulge Yourself

Life can be hectic for everyone. Between work obligations, family obligations, and other obligations, we can all feel worn out. The same old routine of doing, doing, and more doing, can burn you out.

Knowing that there is a reward waiting for you at the end of all that hard work keeping your life in order will renew your commitment to getting the next task done. Taking time to indulge yourself makes life worth living. It is much easier to get back in the rat race when you feel like you are getting something out of it.

It is good for the spirit to set aside some funds to really indulge yourself once in a while. Picking the perfect activity for you is important to get the most out of the indulgence. Keep reading to learn more about how to indulge yourself.

Is a Feast in Order?

Food is the cornerstone of any celebration. Of course, today, food options are so abundant that it can be difficult to decide which indulgence is the right one. Indulging yourself in a good meal that is prepared by someone else feels like a reward.

If you are adventurous, trying a new type of food can not only be a way to get a great meal but also add a little adventure to your life. For example, if you have never tried sushi, heading over to your local sushi bar can feed your appetite while feeding your need for adventure.

Hosting a few friends for dinner? Instead of slaving away in the kitchen all day, consider Italian catering as an option. Having someone else cater to your get-together is a great way to indulge yourself and enjoy your gathering.

Maybe sitting at home with friends and having a meal catered does not feel very indulgent to you. How about visiting the Italian restaurant in person? After all the COVID restrictions, it will feel great to get out again and enjoy a delicious meal.

Everyone is watching their weight, or so it seems. If you are on the ‘diet train’ currently, indulging yourself with Italian dishes does not mean you have to go completely off the rails. There are plenty of menu offerings in most restaurants that can accommodate dietary restrictions. Don’t skip out on the opportunity to indulge yourself because you think there will be no options for you.

Okay, maybe it is a little difficult to stay true to your weight-loss efforts in an Italian eatery, but you may find it a lot easier in a Chinese food restaurant. Authentic Chinese food is quite a healthy option. There are plenty of no ‘carb’ options, vegetable options, and more on most Chinese restaurant menus.

Of course, to indulge in going full-on decadent and putting the diet to the side for the meal will feel much more rewarding. However, if you suffer from ‘guilty eating’ syndrome, know your limits and choose a meal that feels decadent but is still within that diet parameter. You want to indulge, not feel forever guilty about it.

Make A Meal An Event

Americans eat out a lot, but they do not have the full experience of eating out. Most of us will zip through a drive-thru, grab a burger, and eat in the car. Grabbing takeout and eating on the run is not really indulgent. It is more of a necessity. You have to eat.

To feel like you are indulging yourself and enjoying the rewards you have earned, you need to make your ‘indulgent meal’ an event. Choose local restaurants that offer some sort of added experience value.

For example, a hibachi restaurant offers the experience of sitting at a communal table while the food is cooked in front of you by a hibachi chef. These types of restaurants are highly interactive and fun. The meal feels more like an evening out.

If you are lucky enough to live in an area where you can do a dinner theater night, even better. A murder mystery meal is also a good option. Many comedy clubs also do a dinner and show option. Making the most out of your dinner out will feel rewarding and is a great way to reward yourself.

Online restaurant reservations make it easy to book your reservation. Make an event out of a meal out by getting dressed up. It is much more fun if you take the time to plan, dress for it, and make your meal out a full-on event.

If a Meal Out Does Not Feel Like an Indulgence, Try This

For some people, the idea of heading to a restaurant does not feel like too much of an indulgence or a reward. There are other ways you can indulge yourself for a job well done or to celebrate a milestone. You can pick up a hobby and regularly reward yourself with buying the supplies you need for your hobby.

By earmarking cash for your hobby as a reward, it can feel very indulgent. For example, if you are a whiskey connoisseur, why not invest in one of the top of the line whiskey making kits? You can justify the cost as a special indulgent gift to yourself.

For some people making things, whether it is homebrew beer or having their own still to create their private label whiskey, it is an opportunity to indulge themselves. Indulging your hobby is a great way to:

• Destress. Taking your focus off of your problems and directing them to a hobby is a great way to keep problems in perspective.
• Start a side hustle. For many people, a hobby turns into a side hustle. If you are good at what you do because you love what you do, you may be surprised to find that other people are interested and willing to pay.
• Indulge in your creative side. Life can become pretty mundane and not leave a lot of room for creativity. Having an outlet that fuels your creativity can be a great opportunity to keep your creative juices flowing.

Indulging in a hobby is a great option for anyone that wants something just for themselves. We often give so much of ourselves to others that it is nice to have something that you do not have to share with anyone else.

Be Careful With These Indulgences

Going out for a cocktail with friends or smoking some marijuana once in a while is a great way to relax, but there are limits that you have to impose on yourself. It can become a bad habit to rely on anything too much to help you feel like you are in a good space.

Indulgence of any kind loses its power to feel indulgent when you do it too much. It stops feeling like an indulgence and more of a lifestyle. In other words, if you are drinking every day, or you are depending on weed every day, you could be overindulging.

Just like going out to eat every night is not a good idea because of the expense and lack of control over what you are consuming is a bad idea, so is drinking and getting high every day. Indulge but use discretion.

You Can Keep It Simple

An indulgence does not have to require that you throw a ton of cash at it. You do not have to be wealthy to indulge yourself. You can keep it simple and still very much feel rewarded. Going for a massage can be affordable if you use online coupons. There are entire websites dedicated to getting you the best deal, whether for massages, facials, movie tickets, or something else that you want to do.

What if your budget allows for zero dollars to be spent on an indulgence? There are DIY indulgences that you can try at home to make you feel rewarded:

• A long hot bubble bath. Soaking in a tub for as long as the water stays hot is a free indulgence. Light some candles, lock the door, grab your headphones and turn on the tunes. Sit back and soak for as long as it takes to feel like you are rewarded.
• Pot luck dinner with cheap wine. Invite friends over to a pot luck dinner with plenty of cheap wine. It is a lot more affordable to have a dinner party when everyone pitches in. If cheap wine is not in your budget, ask friends to chip in for a few bottles.
• Find a local beauty school. You can get a great new haircut, a manicure, and sometimes even a pedicure at your local beauty school for a fraction of what you would pay in an actual salon.

There are a lot of ways you can indulge yourself without having to break the bank. Get innovative and look for things that you want to do that can also fit into your budget. It is important that you find ways to celebrate yourself and your life. Everyone deserves to be indulged.

Shop

We all will browse around and find that one item that we really want but keep taking out of our cart because of the cost. While you cannot have it all, you can have some things. Having that one pair of shoes or high-end sneakers can make you feel indulged every time you wear them.

While it is not suggested that you become a shopaholic, it is suggested that you treat yourself once in a while instead of constantly denying yourself. If you really want it bad, work toward it, then indulge yourself by buying it.

Worst case scenario you can resell whatever it is down the road if you do not want it anymore. Treat yourself to one big purchase every six months. Knowing that all your hard work is helping you to get the things that make you feel good will keep you motivated and moving in the right direction.

Eat the Cake

This is important, sometimes, indulgence is not about what you do, it is about what you deprive yourself of. It is important that you stick to your guns on a lot of things in life, but learn to balance what is important and what is not. For example, refusing cake or carbs, or bread, or anything all of the time, is deprivation. It is the opposite of indulgence. Should you eat cake every day? No, but should you have a slice on your grandmother’s birthday or your birthday? Yes. Sometimes, indulgence really is about letting yourself go and just living in the moment long enough to celebrate life.

Learn to say ‘yes’ more and ‘no’ less. Learn to celebrate more, it will make you feel like you are living an indulgent lifestyle. Accept more invitations to gather, meet new people, and just let your hair down a bit.

Indulgence today is indulgence as it has always been, sure, the activities may have changed, but it has always been about how you feel about your lifestyle and how you are rewarded for doing things the right way. Find your indulgence niche, and start indulging yourself. You will feel so much better about life.