Celebration
A few years ago, I discovered something troubling about myself: I’m celebration-challenged.
I was in a weekend course on leadership, and I’d just led my group through a mini-workshop on finding your whole body yes.
They loved it.
I’d nailed it.
And I absolutely could not pause to take in my success.
My pattern became painfully clear when the facilitator asked me how I was feeling.
“Self critical, annoyed, aware of everything I did wrong,” I replied.
“How interesting that we’re all telling you the opposite,” he pointed out.
He invited me to shift the pattern. He had me get up on a chair, raise my arms in the air, and cheer for myself.
I did it. And I cringed. It was SO HARD to get my body to express joy at my accomplishment.
Seeing my block to celebration ended up being the biggest takeaway from the workshop.
And I’ve been slowly softening it ever since.
***
Fast forward to today, and the fact that this newsletter is turning 1 year old this week.
It’s still a bit cringey for me to be pointing it out, because…
- Who cares besides me and my mom?! (Hi, Mom!)
- A year is so arbitrary. What’s really special about celebrating that?!
But I’m doing it. I’m celebrating.
Because celebrating is powerful.
Any excuse we can find to recognize what’s good is in service of our wholeness, well-being, and motivation to keep going.
It doesn’t matter if it’s arbitrary. Celebration in and of itself is worthwhile.
Celebrate a clean house.
Celebrate a beautiful sunset.
Celebrate meeting a goal.
Celebrate learning a hard lesson.
Celebrate your heart for beating, your lungs for breathing, and the Earth for spinning round the sun.
It don’t matter. Just practice joy.
It brings good things.
I dare you to try.
Joyfully yours,
Rachel
PS – What could you be celebrating today? Find something, hit reply, and let me know.
This post was originally sent as an email to the Magic Words of the Week newsletter list. Every week, I share reflections on a word, quote, or phrase I think will help you thrive in your life’s work.
