Life's Little Luxuries

Luxury...
* Is the knowledge that something is of the utmost quality
* Is embodied by prestige and superior craftsmanship
* Exists in Michelin starred restaurants, five star hotels, the rails in a designer store, decadent interiors and Fortnum & Mason
* Means paying top dollar because you know that it will last for years to come
* Comes wrapped in tissue paper with a silky bow around it
* Is exclusive, exceptional, unique
* Is the treat you indulge yourself with just once in awhile
* Distinguishes the classy from the classless
* Can be found where you are least expecting it – a boutique off a New York side street, a gorgeous body cream in Boots, the interior of a friend’s home…
* Is discernable by the rest of life’s experiences
* Can be enjoyed by just one person or by many all at once
* Implies a great deal of thought and affection when bestowed upon someone else
* Means something different depending on who you are and where you come from – it is something that makes you feel privileged, whether it be for one minute or one week
* Is immersing yourself in the pages of a good book
* Is a warm bath and hot food on a cold day
* A call from an old friend
* A handwritten letter from a loved one
* Is the way that dress, that necklace, that suit makes you feel when you wear it
* Is an hour long massage at your local spa
* Is a movie on a Wednesday afternoon
* Is a spontaneous lunch with friends
* Is spending the day at your favourite art gallery
* Is sitting front row at a concert or the theatre
* Is crawling into a comfortable bed at the end of a really long, hard day
* Is attainable for those who reach for it

Exercising my right to stay in bed...

The cold weather is staging its yearly vendetta,
Convincing me that abandoning the gym for a lie-in is better.

Far better to stay where it’s warm and treadmill free,
Than emerge at dawn into conditions that are dark and icy.

The effort before bed of packing a bag, remembering trainers, knickers and shampoo,
When it’s so much easier to just stay at home where those things are all in plain view.

I’ll just walk up the five flights of stairs that take me from ground floor to work,
That’ll get the blood pumping and legs a burning, and without costing the earth.

Though of course that monthly membership fee with trickle on out of my account,
But I do go on Saturdays and train extra hard, I’m doing something to make it count.

It’s easier to plan to get out of bed when the light’s streaming in through your window,
When you don’t have to pile on a million layers just to take leave of your bed throw.

‘Cause the heating ain’t on at 5am so the house resembles an igloo,
And at this time of year I’m battling, all the yucky symptoms of flu.

No, my weekday gym visits may well be postponed, at least till the looming new year,
When I’ll reboot my resolve before the cold came, and force myself to persevere.

I’ll convince myself, that the violent shivering, that comes with these cold weather days,
Will shed many pounds of unwanted weight, leaving me trim for parties.

So my Saturday work-outs will just have to do, as I weight out the ice, rain and snow,
And then I’ll return, fighting fit, to reclaim that svelte figure I used to know.