1. Celebration is a marker. We celebrate on birthdays and anniversaries and weddings, and for promotions, graduations, and religious events. Every step we take toward a goal is a small personal celebration of growth. Pausing to celebrate the tiny successes helps us to measure and gauge our pace and to acknowledge our progress.

2. The wins and the losses are all part of the game. If we don’t lose, we know nothing about winning. Failure teaches success. One is not better than the other, because they both come together to create the fabric of our experiences. Success and failure are both necessary in a life well lived.

3. Joy is an inside job. When we rely on others to bring happiness into our lives we strive always to fill ourselves from the outside in. In the process we become needy, dissatisfied, reliant, and co-dependent on our relationships. The single longest relationship we will ever have is with ourselves and because of that we need to fill our lives from the inside out in order to be both heart and head happy and to thrive.

4. Alter your time and raise your energy and productivity by asking one simple question!
Whenever you feel overwhelmed or struggling to balance ask yourself, “What can I do, what can I accomplish now in the time I do have?” Then do it. A major cause for celebration, one small chunk at a time!

5. Create a home inside your head! Be comfortable with who you are and what you are doing. Spend time alone. A “party of one” is important in the balance of your day and the scope of your life. Being okay with pursuing hobbies, relaxing, exercising, eating and traveling on your own allows for thought, introspection and personal growth. Celebrate you!

6. Empathy is a gift. It differs from gratitude, and appreciation, and sympathy because being empathetic cuts to the core of the human experience. When we see things from the vantage point of another, we can better appreciate the nuisances of their choices and the struggles or successes of their journeys. With empathy, our compassion is not based on judgments or in trying to fix the situation, but in understanding it as it is. Empathy allows us to celebrate the soul of another, in both good times and bad.

7. Make use of all that is available to you. If you have access to the whole bunch of bananas, why enjoy only one? Sometimes we are so laser focused that we do not see the bigger picture…or the whole bunch. We know what we know and never reach further. We need to use the whole box of crayons and celebrate with the entire rainbow for maximum impact! We all have so much information available to us that we often forget to take a wide-angle approach to research, build, grow, and expand our learning and our depth. Using what is available to us creates engagement and a better understanding of options, ideas and choices. Don’t stand in the forest and miss the trees! Grab those bananas! Grab the crayons too!

8. Create a “can-do” aura even in the face of upset. Sometimes, the most insignificant grouping of words can hold the most significant meaning. Six short letters…”O.K. fine”…carry a powerful punch. “O.K. fine” means, “I’ve got it!” “O.K. fine” means I take you seriously, but I take myself seriously too. It turns any request into a positive exchange. “O.K. fine” reduces the need to explain further, defuses negative energy, and creates a positive vibe. It turns can’t into can and with that generates possibility and accord.

9. Make your own noise! Toot your own horn! Be your own cheerleader! When we have a point of view and we take action on that view, we amplify our voice and refresh our existence. In so doing, we feel at one with the Universe. We feel heard. Nothing…absolutely nothing… happens when we do nothing. So, do the work, step up to the job of living, and create the legacy and the life you want to celebrate today! Be willing to say yes now and to figure out the details later. When we don’t we make excuses for not creating change.

10. What’s next? There is always a next! Our lives are a continuous reel of opportunity, an evolution of our time and our commitment to exploring and indulging in the journey of being a human. When we eliminate the finish line, we embrace being a work-in-progress and we celebrate the unique changes and renewal that each new chapter of life reveals. Keep going forward…one step and one celebration at a time!

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