Celebrate!: Why Honoring the Small Stuff Can Make a Big Difference
I completed a daunting task this week, writing copy for a landing page I had been futzing with for a couple of months . I finally got enough positive feedback to feel like I had succeeded with it, and my system flooded with motivation! I felt the “all-systems-go” kick in and was ready to work!
But a little voice inside my head said…but first we celebrate!
I had to stop for a few minutes, put on a favorite wiggling song and rock out, chanting my own praises before settling down to whittle away at the checklist.
How often do we do that?
Not enough, probably. I’m working on getting better at it. On noticing when I’ve turned a corner or hit a milestone or responded to a circumstance mindfully, the way I wanted to do it instead of the way I habitually react.
All of it is worth honoring.
When you get a paycheck, how do you respond? Do you toss it in the bank and head to the grocery store, or do you mark the occasion in some way? Some people might buy themselves a smoothie, or make a donation to someplace who does good work, or even do a little dance or light a candle. Just to mark the moment and honor it.
It’s easy to notice the big things that warrant our celebratory attention, like a graduation or wedding or anniversary. But what about the little things, like having a tough conversation, getting a clean bill of health, or even getting the laundry washed, folded, and put away all in the same day? Sometimes just getting out of bed in the morning is an accomplishment, and may be honored in the same way.
Why not celebrate more of our lives?
You don’t have to have a dance party or anything that fancy, even. It can be three deep breaths feeling your feet on the floor to take it in. It can be an announcement out loud to yourself — “I did that. Yay, me!”
But whatever it is, it has to be deliberate, it has to be a recognition and acknowledgement that takes place outside of the normal flow of life.
We can make life sacred this way. If we choose to, we can turn our lives into a series of reverential events rather than a to-do list to get through so we can, y’know, really live. We can savor it, and let it all be magical.
The practice of celebration grounds our appreciation in an act of ceremony, elevating our experience of gratitude and satisfaction to the domain of the holy. And the more we notice and bless these little moments, the more our life starts to bless us back.
Regular celebration also trains our brains to appreciate ourselves, and to receive. It trains our minds to let more of the things we want in the front door. When we step outside our busyness to be present to a celebratory moment we let it sink in, we hold it, we bask. We pause to give the mind a chance to record the moment as pleasurable, establishing a positive feedback loop.
And naturally, the more our brains learn to allow in the things we appreciate, the more of them will be available to us. The brain likes positive reinforcement. Who doesn’t? And of course it allows Universal Law to bring us more of those delicious moments, too.
Beyond all of this it slows us down. It causes us to be in our lives, not just getting it done. In taking a moment to honor ourselves, we also increase our wonder at the world around us. We create habits of empathy when we notice the accomplishments of others, even if they don’t. We notice more, period.
We inhabit our world, we become more grateful, we become better wired to shine.
I invite you this week as you go about your business to pay attention, to notice the things you might want to celebrate. At least once a day — more if possible — take a moment to celebrate something, however insignificant it seems. I’ll be very curious to see how you feel a week from now. (Share your experience in the comments, if you’re so inspired.)
And right now, in this moment, take a pause. Take a breath to just celebrate that you’re here. That you had three minutes to read a blog post. Whatever seems worthy of appreciation, breathe a sense of celebration into your heart.
I’m celebrating you as we speak.
