I think we suck at celebrating…

Well… not all of us, but I bet I got your attention!  But did I grab it for the right reasons?  Do you love to throw a party?  Are you always looking for reasons to celebrate?  When is the last time you have truly celebrated something?  Has life and the mundane and everyday have you overwhelmed , burned out, or do you feel like something is missing?

Who loves a good party?

Recently, I was blessed to be at an event where a new speaker was sharing some material that I truly believe is already changing the world.  After the presentation, we talked a bit about her accomplishments and I asked she if she celebrated those big goals she hit.  Did she celebrate crossing the finish line after the big race she had trained for over a year?

She looked back at me with a blank stare…

I asked her why not.  And her response spoke volumes for how we approach celebration and is a tremendous lesson we can all learn from.  Because I am a lot like her in this respect.  And I suspect that you might be as well.

She just moved on to the next thing…

And so did I.  And I still do.  More often than I would like to admit.  Why is it that we work hard for so long to meet a goal and then we get there and all of a sudden we are just on to the next thing?  Did you all of a sudden forget the blood sweat and tears?  Did you forget the late nights and sacrifices?  Or what if you are competitive and crossed the finish line of a race you have been training for?  Did you actually take time to celebrate or did you just move on to training for the next one?

I love graduation season…

Why?  Because we celebrate!  We celebrate the accomplishment of completion.  The beginning of a new chapter, whatever that might be.  And the focus is on the graduate, who worked hard to get to where they are and is staring down a future with unlimited possibilities!  My son, Jace, graduates this week and we had his graduation party on Sunday.  It was so fun.  A room full of people showing up to celebrate him.  And he was beaming.  Why?  Because it feels flippin good to celebrate!!!  It felt good because people were celebrating his graduation.  His accomplishment.

I wonder, for many of us, is that the last thing we truly celebrated?

Just as babies and toddlers are constantly giggling and laughing and laughter diminishes as we age, I think celebrating does as well.

So here is my challenge for you…

Celebrate something.  Anything.  Celebrate Monday being done.  Celebrate the completion of a work project.  Celebrate getting through a family gathering.  Celebrate a dinner with friends or a reunion with someone you haven’t seen in awhile.  Make it a goal to celebrate something every week. Celebration is bucket filling!  The science is there.  This isn’t just some idea that sounds good in theory.  It has been proven.

And don’t overthink it- you don’t need a catered formal party to celebrate.  Keep it simple.  But really celebrate.  And let me know how you feel when you do it.  Trust me in this.

If we don’t celebrate, all we are is drained from all the energy the accomplishment ate up.  So go ahead and #WINtheNOW and live in the celebration of the moment.

If you need a little more, check out this blog from last year.  It goes along well with celebration.

And if you want to talk a little more about learning to #WINtheNOW in your life, check out this page.