Life has been a bit crazy lately. I’m sure yours has been too.
Seriously, when are we not busy?
There is one thing that I never want to get too busy to stop and do.
Celebrate.
Celebration is simple and it doesn’t seem all that profound. In fact, it doesn’t even seem foundational to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. But when we don’t stop to celebrate, we miss out on so much more than we realize.
I get it.
All the time, money, and planning of it; celebrating can easily become another item on the to do list
And seriously, Pintrest realty stuck it to us on this one. Celebrating can become time consuming and elaborate so quickly.
For those of us who don't have some mad calligraphy skills and the magic Pinterst wand so that all of those 'easy' DIY projects turn out flawlessly, we're really up the creek without a paddle.
Our lives don’t magically seem to slow down or become less busy. In fact, I find these days that I have to be more intentional than ever in most areas of life.
Celebrating is one of those things that I am being intentional about making time and margin for these days.
It sounds a bit counterintuitive I know, who wouldn’t naturally want to stop to celebrate for any given reason?
Our to-do lists take over and when the day’s work is done, we’re tired, worn out and the mere thought of touching up our make up, fitting into some fabulous yet undoubtedly uncomfortable dress with heels, to go out sounds like it may take every last bit out of us.
But celebration is so important for what it does to our souls.
Celebration gives us a moment to pause, to see, to acknowledge, to esteem, to be grateful and allow our hearts to deepen with joy.
This season had been one filled with reasons to celebrate, things in our own lives and in the lives of those dear to us.
Weddings
Babies
New jobs
Promotions
Dreams coming to fruition
Those are the big things, the visible, and easy things to celebrate.
But there are others too, much smaller things, maybe the ones that don’t seem all that big or meaningful to others.
The little moments are the ones I am trying to stop for these days.
They’re the ones that come at times when the schedule is full and I’m exhausted.
But they’re the ones that I don’t want to skip over.
Just as the reasons we celebrate may not seem huge, the way in which we celebrate may not be extravagant, and it doesn't need to be.
Sometimes celebration looks like a bottle of cheap champagne. Sometimes it looks like hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese’s restaurant with a $10 tab.
Those are the moments, the times when we stop and celebrate that are so vital to our souls.
When we forgo the opportunity to celebrate, even the small things, we miss out on the sweet joy and deep gladness in our hearts that bubble up like our champagne flutes when celebration happens.
What’re some things, big or small, that you’ve been given the opportunity to celebrate recently and how have you celebrated?