6 things you must celebrate
Why celebration?
The definition of celebration is to acknowledge (a significant or happy day or event) with a social gathering or enjoyable activity. I love this definition because it shows that celebrating can mean a social gathering (which is what we are used to) or it can mean an enjoyable activity (which is how I love to celebrate).
It is so important to celebrate yourself, even the smallest things because it forces you to sit in the presence of what you have/are creating in your life. Each little step is importance in the big picture. It is about the journey and you will miss it if you don’t STOP. Celebrating forces you to STOP and enjoy the moment.
Celebrating also pushes you forward, it gives you forward momentum to live in the present/future rather than in the past.
The importance of celebrating is something I have totally disregarded in the past. I hardly ever celebrate myself and if I do, it’s usually last minute because someone else wanted me to do it. Ultimately it is really uncomfortable for me.
I resisted celebrating myself because I have always believed that it would make others feel bad. So I simply stopped celebrating in hopes I could help others feel better about themselves. I am a typical people pleaser so making others feel good is much easier for me.
As I have gotten older and witnessed myself in this habit, I have actually realized that I have kept myself hidden, especially when it comes to going after what I desire in my life. I was afraid to share my desires with others because if I got them then it might make others feel bad.
So I didn’t share them, go for them, or celebrate them.
Lately I have been celebrating small things about myself and it has really changed the way I look at what I am doing as well as what others are doing.
I am enjoying the small moments, I am stopping to celebrate my life and my creations!
Here are 6 ways things that you should absolutely be celebrating! And ways in which you can celebrate!
1. Celebrate setting boundaries for yourself. This one comes from a dear friend who realized she wasn’t celebrating setting boundaries. This particularly rings true when saying no. We have a habit of saying yes to to many things that we don’t really want to do. Saying no to things that aren’t serving you is a huge cause for celebration. Celebrate by buying yourself something nice.
2. Celebrate when you meet a goal. Meeting goals even small ones is not always easy. I see my clients do this all of the time. They meet a goal and they disregard it like it is no big deal. Things like exercising 2 times a week or drinking 8 glasses of water a day. These small goals lead to very big goals and each step is important to celebrate. Celebrate with a hot cup of tea.
3. Celebrate when you worked hard all week and you feel exhausted. This one is huge. Often we will complain and say this week was so hard, I worked so hard and I feel depleted. If we changed our mindset and instead we celebrated it would change our whole outlook. Imagine saying I worked so hard this week I am going to take a bath or take myself out to lunch at my favorite restaurant.
4. Celebrate when you have a good parenting moment or you and your partner have a good talk. We tend to dwell on the negative. We tend to think about all the times we totally screwed up, like when we were hard on our kids or we complained to our partners a little too much. Celebrate the good moments by putting on a fabulous outfit or wearing some lipstick.
5. Celebrate someone else when they have done something amazing! The more you celebrate others, the more you will celebrate yourself. The more you celebrate yourself, the more you will celebrate others. It is infectious. Send them flowers, leave a gift on their doorstep or simply send them a card. Even a text or voice message is amazing!
6. And for god’s sake celebrate a momentous age, date, or event. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, baby’s, etc. But be sure to celebrate in the way that you want, in a way that feels really good to you not the way others want you to celebrate.
All of these can be celebrated by simply using the “The Celebration Technique”. I use this all the time in my coaching sessions. It is 5 questions (answer them when you feel like you need a celebration).
-What am I celebrating?
-Why is it worth celebrating?
-Why was it an important goal to achieve?
-How does it make me feel?
-What did I do to achieve that goal?
-Who have I become in the process?
Tell me are you comfortable celebrating yourself? Are you comfortable celebrating your accomplishments with others? If you could celebrate in one way, any way, what would you do? We would love to hear in the comments below.