Celebrating is apart of our culture. We celebrate with weddings, baby showers, awards, graduations, promotions, retirements and so much more… but, are you someone who easily celebrates yourself?
The thought of celebrating myself makes my skin crawl. I would much rather hide out at home then be put in front of a spot light in any way, shape or form. I not only feel uncomfortable with celebrating myself but, I actually fight to NOT celebrate my accomplishments.
Last week my therapist asked if I celebrate my son and if so, how often.
Celebrating my son is easy. A year has not passed without celebrating his birthday. A month does not pass without celebrating his athletic accomplishments or school successes. A week does not pass without celebrating him by taking him to a movie, lunch, the batting cages or the driving range. A day does not pass without celebrating his hard word and dedication in school, chores or sports.
People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state–it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle…. Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.— Abraham Joshua Heschel
If a celebration is not about entertaining then what is it about the act of celebrating that I do not like when it comes to my own accomplishments?
I am someone who is so hard on myself. I am constantly telling myself what I do wrong or what I need to improve upon so, it’s impossible for me to even embrace celebrating when my focus is on all the crap I do wrong or can’t seem to get right in my life.
The critical voices in my head takes up way too much time and space.
As I ignored my thoughts of running from celebrating the release of my second book last Friday I realized that maybe I need to reframe how I see celebrating.
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” — Oprah Winfrey
Just this past Friday I went to see the new Amy Schumer movie I Feel Pretty. The premise is a woman who feels insecure and is self-deprecating until she hits her head and she sees herself differently. She thinks she is someone new and different but, in actuality her confidence is what changed. The movie really got me thinking about my own insecurities and lack of desire to celebrate myself.
We are all amazing in our own right. It is a miracle that we woke up today! We all have so much to be thankful for when we look in the mirror. No, it is not perfect by the world’s standards but, you (and me) are exactly who God created us to be… so, what is not to be celebrated or seen as AMAZING!!
What if we walked in that beauty and celebration everyday or at least more days than not? Our perspective and image of ourselves would change because of how we choose to carry and celebrate ourselves!!
Life is too short to down play who we are or what we have accomplished. Let go and enjoy the process daily because you are AMAZING and so am I!! Let’s walk in amazement of ourselves and those around us because one day we will wished we would have appreciated it all just a little bit more.
