Press pause

Title: Mindful moment: Celebrate!

Congratulations! You’ve done it! Way to go!

We live in a very task-driven world where we often just move to the next item on our list rather than taking time to recognize and celebrate our successes and our journey. But did you know that celebrating in a healthy way is actually good for us? Think about this:

Celebrating gives us an opportunity to reflect. I was recently reminded of a winter hike I took on a high, snow-covered mountain. After climbing for a while, I paused to rest. I turned around and could see my footprints in the new snow trailing down the mountain and into the foothills below. I could see the distance and the elevation I had climbed. And that gave me an appreciation for what I had accomplished.

In a similar way, when we take time to reflect we are able to look back on our journey and see how far we’ve come. We can see our personal progression and we can see the people that have helped us get to where we are. We get a vision of our success.

Celebrating helps us be grateful. Andrew Merle wrote: “One of the main reasons celebrating is so important is because it reflects an overall attitude of gratitude and enjoying what we have, instead of focusing on what we don’t have or only on what we want in the future.”

According to research conducted by Dr. Robert A. Emmons and Dr. Michael McCullough, people who cultivate a daily attitude of celebration and gratitude have more energy and have less stress and anxiety. They are more likely to help others, exercise more frequently, sleep better, have improved physical health, and actually make greater progress toward achieving personal goals.

Celebrating helps us recognize people around us that contribute to our