Why I'm going to the spa tomorrow

I indulge myself rarely. Like, really rarely. I grew up without much money in an environment where taking time to do something nice for yourself just wasn't done. I felt it was much more important to do things for and take care of others, and my passion for that was intense enough that it left little room for me. I'm using the past tense here, but honestly, it's a daily struggle for me to carve out even a few minutes of time for myself that I don't feel guilty about. So why the spa?

I decided last year that I really wanted to improve my credentials as a trainer. I have tons of experience and I know I'm good at what I do, but my certification was not one of the best. So I decided to go after the gold standard, the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification. I immediately freaked out that I wasn't going to be able to pass. This was a test that went further into the "micro" level of scientific information than I had gone before. My knowledge of bodies and how they work was sound, but not on the technical level of detail I knew would be required, and I had less experience working with athletes than with everyday peeps. Most people take the CSCS right out of school, when info is fresh in their minds. Most, I'm guessing, don't have two kids and a job to try to study around. So the obstacles were many, and I had to face a lots of my fears around not being "smart" enough and (more significantly) trying my best and failing.

Well, it turns out that I didn't fail! I took the test last week and passed by a good margin. I told myself a while ago that if I passed the test, I would get a morning at Olympus Spa. When I realized that the main hurdle for me wasn't passing the test, but just getting up the nerve to TAKE the damn thing, I revised that promise to myself - if I studied my hardest and took the test, that gutsy effort deserved to be rewarded. So I'm off tomorrow to contemplate the main thing I've learned from this experience, which is this: If you don't try, even when it's hard, you'll just never know. :)