Celebrate More!

Does this sound familiar? You make large goals and work hard to reach them. You imagine after all the hard work, you'll celebrate. However, if - like me - when you've finally reached that goal you've been on the path for so long, it barely feels like an accomplishment anymore. You may even already be planning your next goal. The fact that you've reached one goal is barely acknowledged; celebrating gets put off to the future when you've reached some other success.

Or maybe you can relate to this. You have a to-do list that's a mile-long. You imagine taking a moment to stop and sip your coffee while admiring your garden when you finish the last thing on the list. But, whenever you check one thing off, you add three more. You never get to that imagined moment of savoring your coffee and admiring your garden. There's always something more to do.

I've decided to stop putting off the celebrating. My new motto is "Celebrate more!" ​

Happiness and celebration

I recently finished the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It was a great read. It's got me thinking about the idea that you can't go searching for happiness. Happiness can only be found within yourself. 

How do you find happiness within yourself? Well, you should try to do all those things that are summed up in little life quotes. You know the ones:​

Be grateful
Stop and smell the roses
Savor life
Enjoy the little things
Be mindful

Those are great, but you know what? They sometimes make me feel bad about myself. They come across a little preachy. Do this, do that. I think I'd be happier without the stress; trying to be happier should be fun, right?

Then, a couple of days ago, I read a post on the blog Barking Up the Wrong Tree about not celebrating enough. That was the clincher. I think all those little life quotes can be summed up nicely in one idea:

And I don't mean only the big things. I don't mean we should celebrate major goals with a fancy dinner and a glass of champagne (although do that, too! Yum!). But I mean:

Celebrate more things, and celebrate in more ways. Celebrate the little things. Celebrate the daily things. 
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• Did your child try a bite of dinner though he claimed to hate it? Give him a high five! (Though in my family this seriously may merit a glass of champagne! Um, not for the kid; for me!) Celebrating little things at the dinner table certainly makes that crazy time of day more fun.
• Did you finally make that phone call you've been putting off too long?​ Did you go for a run or eat a healthy snack? Smile! Tell yourself good job! Why shouldn't you smile to yourself? You're an awesome person! Enough with the self-criticizing. People are much more likely to get something done with a celebration at the end!​
• ​Did your favorite song just come on the radio? Get up and dance! ​I try to do this on a daily basis. It feels great! Of course I work at home so no one can see me, but who cares if someone does! The boost is worth it.
• Did you put aside your to-do list for 10 minutes to savor your coffee and admire your garden? Say YAY! Taking a moment for yourself to enjoy life (and coffee!) definitely warrants a yay! in my book.

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Magic

Every time I hear the Cloud Cult song Through the Ages, this line gets to me. Why? It's because there is magic all around us. The magic is the everyday things, those little things that we might let pass by without realizing they're happening.

If we put off the celebrations, the smiles, the good jobs till some distant future, that future all too quickly becomes the past. We will end up living our lives without enough smiles. And without enough dancing. And without enough good jobs. And without enough YAYs!
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Celebrate

Today I'm celebrating! This morning I smiled at my garden and how it's growing so nicely from the effort I put into it so far this spring. I'm celebrating that I finished four new Beetle Pouches. I smiled at myself and played the radio loud while I photographed them. And now I'm going for a walk outside in the sunshine. And I'm going to laugh, and smile, and say YAY! when I get back -- both to congratulate myself on getting exercise, but also to congratulate myself for acknowledging that work, though I love it, isn't everything and taking a break to enjoy the warm sun is good.

​What are you celebrating today?