Celebrating daily life

Richard Bach is quoted as saying, “Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished.  If you're alive, it isn't.”  “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else,” said Emily Dickinson.  Grandma Moses said, “Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.”  “To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.,“ said Havelock Ellis.  Gioacchino Rossini said, “Eating, loving, singing and digesting are, in truth, the four acts of the comic opera known as life, and they pass like bubbles of a bottle of champagne.  Whoever lets them break without having enjoyed them is a complete fool.”   

I find these quotations inspiring, and I end this essay with my own.  But, I must add at this point—an unabashedly blatant commercial—that if you enjoy great quotations, please see my complete collection of over 1600 motivational quotations: SMOERs—Self Motivation, Optimism, Encouragement Rules: Daily Reminders for Outstanding Living (And Then Some Publishing, 2009).  You won’t be disappointed. 

Most often when we think of celebrating, it is just at those special times (e.g., birthdays, Christmas, New Years, athletic victories, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, etc.), and we seldom believe (or think) about celebrating on a daily basis.  What do most of us have to be thankful for?  A brief list may stimulate your thoughts: parents, family, children, health, abundance of resources, liberty and freedom, friends and neighbors, independence, self-sufficiency, and life itself, to name a few. 

So often we overlook what we have to celebrate.  At the web site, The List, it says, “We live in a country where we are free. We are free to participate in the political process without fear. We are free to practice our religion, whatever it may be.  Every child has the opportunity to go to school. And although the economy is bad, we are still living a life that many people in this world can only dream of. We are blessed.”  For most people in this country, this is what we have to celebrate, and, too, is exactly what we overlook. 

At the web site, nwfdailynews.com  and at the end of his essay, “During the holidays, be thankful for what we have,” Buddy Duncan writes: “Each night as I tuck my little girl in I am thankful for the soft cozy bed, the electricity to heat our home, the job and the health with which I can afford the electricity and other needs and comforts. I believe we have so much to be thankful for it is a waste of precious time bemoaning our lacks.” 

We don’t need to wait for tomorrow and the success, affluence, wealth, or riches it may bring. All you need to do is survey your life for your own personal stories, experiences, and joys—the way your life has purpose, the needs that have been satisfied, and the beauties of nature that surround you.  You have a wealth of wonderful stories, experiences, and joys—even if there may be no major successes, affluence, wealth, or riches in your life thus far. 

At the USA Today web site, Gladys Edmunds has written an essay, “Entrepreneurial Tightrope: Things to be thankful for,” in which she lists things anyone in business has to be thankful for (I have condensed her thoughts and used them verbatim here without quotation marks): 1) Be eternally grateful for having a sense of purpose, the guiding light that keeps you motivated to keep on keeping on no matter how rough the road.  2) Be thankful you know that an easy way to reach your larger goals is to set the smaller goals that you can more easily see.  3) Be thankful for keeping negative thoughts out of the way.  4) Be thankful for all of the wonderful books, CDs and articles that help you to keep a positive, upbeat attitude toward life and living and being in business.  5) Be thankful for recognizing that self-confidence like self-esteem is not a steady state; it comes and goes depending on the situation you find yourself in.  6) Be thankful that you recognize the tell-tale signs of imbalance—lack of energy, irritability, over—or under—eating to name a few—and you have scheduled quiet time for yourself to evaluate your situation and implemented the necessary things to get your life back in order.   

There are three more items in the list.  7) Be thankful for the ability to bring people into your life that will lead you to success: mentors, advocates, a coach when needed, good employees and of course the necessary subcontractors to help you have time to yourself.  8) Be thankful you recognize that success depends on consistent learning. And, when you stop learning, you stop living.  9) Be thankful that when opportunities show up you recognize them and seize the opportunity to your advantage. More important, be thankful that even when opportunity seems to have hidden itself from you, you have the good sense to use your creativity to create an opportunity for yourself. 

I have often advocated the need for quiet time, and I have often written about the time I have to myself when I am jogging early in the morning.  These are not just some of the most creative times I experience, but they are times, too, to celebrate what I have learned, appreciate my place in life, and to plan for the day, next week, or even next year.  To carve out just a few moments each day to clear our minds and to think about all that we have to be thankful for are moments of quiet celebration—quiet joy.  Celebration need not be loud, boisterous, animated, exuberant, and noisy.  It is just as purposeful and meaningful when it is restrained, low-key, peaceful—and private. 

And I want to close this essay on celebrating daily life with my own quotation: The beauty of celebrating everyday life is the joy of having a carnival of the spirit, a festival for our frame of mind, and a tribute to our way of thinking that boosts our morale and provides an ongoing force that drives our daily espirit de corps.  Celebrating our daily life may not seem that important; however, it gives each of us a chance to show our appreciation for those things that really matter to us, and daily celebrations remind us of how fortunate, privileged, or simply lucky we are. 

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At PR Log: Free Press Release, the essay is entitled, “Give Thanks! The Gratitude Collection Celebrates I Am So Thankful Month,” and the point of the essay is given in the subheading: “The Gratitude Collection is celebrating National I Am So Thankful Month by offering suggestions on how you can show your gratitude and thankfulness to others.”  There are three great suggestions that allow us all to celebrate everyday thankfulness. 

Marelisa Fabrega, on her Abundance Blog, has an essay, “50 Ways to Celebrate Life Every Day,” in which she wants readers to “establish a goal to celebrate life in some way, however small, every day. Below,” she writes, “you will find a list of 50 simple joys to help remind you to slow down, celebrate life, and enjoy the moment!”  Some are small and trivial, others aren’t, but they are fun suggestions designed for everyday celebrations. 

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Copyright November, 2010, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.