In three weeks my birthday will be here. It's a big one this year. Some might even say it's big enough to call for a celebration. This topic leads me to the reason for this post. We all speak pretty openly about our desire to celebrate life's big events. Some people believe in celebrating all birthdays, big and small, and others believe in celebrating the mile marker birthdays, happening every five to ten years. I actually think it's important to celebrate every birthday, even if it means enjoying your favorite gelato with a friend or creating your own fun. To me - birthdays, and even anniversaries, are more straight forward. You know they're worth celebrating. It's a little easier to say, "Here's to another year. Cheers to us!" but it can take a little more convincing to celebrate other life events.
When we set goals or have high expectations for achieving an accomplishment, we tell ourselves that we'll celebrate big when we finally achieve IT. I did this very thing when I was studying for all seven of the architectural registration exams, a demanding and grueling process. I incentivized myself by envisioning how great and proud I would feel when I finally passed them all, the party where I'd celebrate with all of my friends and family and all of the things I would go and do when I achieved this lifetime goal of mine. I actually celebrated this win with a fancy dinner out with Ben and I really have enjoyed every weekend since, as I haven't had to wake up early and study all day. I made a point to GO and DO, to get outside and to live large. I never did throw an actual party. Friends and family encouraged me to do so and yet, I reasoned that it would take too much planning, cost too much money and inconvenience too many people. The truth is that everyone I know and love would totally have been on board no matter the "cost" but I discounted the idea because I reasoned that it just wasn't worth it. But it is, worth it!
The lesson here is that it's important to celebrate life, all of it, even if it feels silly at the time.
With that said, this afternoon I'm hoping to follow through with celebratory plans for my birthday. I'm excited. I already picked up the Oh Joy! cake topper at Target. Have you had a chance to see the Oh Joy! for Target collection? If not, be sure to check out her 'garden party' post over at Oh Joy! You'll want to throw a party stat.