Do you like to celebrate?

How good are you at it?

What was the last thing you celebrated?

What does all this mean to you?

People have interesting views about celebration; some choose not to mark occasions at all. They view birthdays as not worth celebrating as they are getting older – their excuse not mine – and consider some other things too commercial. Others feel that celebrations cost money, and yes they can, but they can be cheap or cost nothing at all.

Today I celebrated ticking off a number of things on my ‘to do’ list by awarding myself 15 minutes to sit in the sun. Not a huge celebration, just a small gift to myself to mark the situation.

In our house we celebrate lots of things. Any excuse, we often say. Sometimes things cost money, like a nice bottle of wine as a result of winning a contract or we might have lunch out, and that in itself can range from cheap, reasonable to extravagant. Again it depends on the size of the celebration and who you may be with or even who is paying.

Birthdays and anniversaries, new jobs and similar tend to attract those bigger price tags but for all of us there are times when we may need to go easier on what we spend. There have been a few particular occasions that come to mind and so we organised picnics, a day’s walking with packed lunches and took advantage of deals. During the pandemic, my birthday celebration with a close friend was a canal walk with fish and chips for lunch and a shared bottle of fizz in the park afterwards. It was just as much fun.

If you think things are too commercialised and you don’t want to buy into that then decide to celebrate other things instead – after all you can choose. Create your own way.

I believe that achievements, big or small should be celebrated. This marks them and values them and in doing so we value ourselves too. You may have been job hunting and finally, after ups and downs, secure one. You may be training for a challenge and what better way to motivate yourself than by celebrating the stages.

When I am running training walks for the Camino or UK Walk Experiences, we go to the pub or to a cafe or bar at the end of the day and mark the finish with a drink. We first raise a glass to the day and the walk and what we have achieved. Then we talk about and share the day and what has come up, including the challenges and how people coped and the breakthroughs that people may have had. That gives more cause for celebration.

You can celebrate finishing your work early or the chance to catch up with a friend. Perhaps catching up with a friend is the celebration.

What is important is acknowledging what you have achieved and rewarding yourself.

Do it as you would like to, spend as much or as little as you want.

Take 10 minutes now and think how many ways you can celebrate and for what reason. 

Are you happy with what you do?

Would you like to celebrate more?

What would have to happen for you to do that?

Have fun working through this and then put it into action.

As I have got older, I feel more and more in control of making these celebrations happen. It stands to reason that celebrating our successes will focus on more of them and increase our belief in what we are able to do.

Now isn’t that worth celebrating?

Topics like celebration are what we discuss in the Stepping into Freedom programme and that can lead to looking at other issues such as boundaries and how we honour ours. Also what is success and freedom for us women.

The Stepping into Freedom Programme runs twice a year, usually in Jan/Feb and also in Sept/Oct so if you are interested you can find out more below and join our waitlist.

07941 246619