It’s so exciting that we’ve reached another New Year! Before I present a brand new series, I like to leave little nuggets called Along the Way, because along this journey, as we walk out our dreams, dust off the cobwebs on some of the ones stashed away, putting one foot in front of the other, it is important to stop and make sure we do some things. One of those things is CELEBRATE! You do not have to wait for your Birthday or New Year’s Eve to celebrate. It is important to continually (all year long) celebrate your successes and even your failures.
Often times when we think of celebration, it’s for something we deem big (an anniversary, birthday, holiday launch party, retirement party, etc.), with lots of people and fun décor (balloons, flashing lights, and blaring music). BUT true celebration is not that. It’s a moment you take for yourself to acknowledge that you accomplished something (that is important to you) to get you closer to where you want to go and you refuse to let that moment pass you by. In celebrating yourself, you embrace and believe you are important and guess what? You are!
You must also realize that in celebrating yourself, you do not have to have your project or goal 100% complete or accomplished. There are celebrations to be had in the process. You set to stop smoking. You haven’t gotten there yet, but you are down to one pack a day instead of five. You set to lose twenty-five pounds. You are not there yet, but you did workout three days this week. You set out to start your own podcast. You don’t have one podcast recorded, but you saved enough money to finally buy all the equipment. You have to celebrate yourself every step of the way. It takes boldness, consistency, and confidence to know you are getting closer. Celebration gives you the motivation to know that if you accomplished one thing, you will accomplish more.
Now, there will be moments you don’t have crowds of people cheering you on. You have to learn to celebrate yourself. There will be moments you fail. Even so, what did you learn from that failure? Celebrate that. There will also be moments you are going to think your accomplishment pales in comparison to someone else’s progress. Put on your blinders on and know the only thing that matters is you moving forward.
I remember when I was asked by one of my favorite aunts to sing at her father’s funeral. It was such an honor to recognize a beautiful soul. I couldn’t pass on the request. After I got off the phone and accepted, I thought, Oh my Lord! What did I just commit to?! I haven’t sung in years!!! I knew I could carry a tune, but it had been a while, a loooooooong while. I decided, for some practice, to have my co-worker listen to me sing to test my voice under pressure. Now, I’ll be honest, I thought the end result would be my co-worker saying, “Wow, Tishonna! You have a decent voice! I never knew that about you!” but after I sang, to make a long story short, a few cracks and sour notes later, we both knew I did a horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE job! Surprisingly, I wasn’t embarrassed at all. I was so thankful to God that I took a risk, did something different, and got out of my comfort zone. That’s something to celebrate!
I am now charging you to GO CELEBRATE YOURSELF! Go get yourself your favorite dessert or call your friends over for dinner (the ones who will genuinely celebrate you). Go buy you some balloons and have a dance party in the mirror or go do something you love. If anything, look in the mirror and sing yourself praises. Celebrate all you are and all you have done. It teaches you not to rely on others for validation, but to appreciate how God uniquely made you and to accept that uniqueness as a gift. For video, challenges, and daily encouragements: click here.