Why Every Day Should Be A Celebration

When you hit a rough patch and life gets you down, try readjusting your perspective and focus on the positives. Recognising even small feats can award you with an enduring sense of well-being

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Marking occasions, such as Christmas, Easter and anniversaries, gives us a sense of perspective and stops each day, week and month from blurring into one another – as well as giving us a reason to smile. But if celebrating can give us a boost, why limit it to certain days in the year?

Clinical psychologist Dr Cecilia D’Felice and self-improvement expert Nina Grunfeld say it’s when times are tough and life feels like a struggle that taking note of the small achievements can give you a long-lasting sense of well-being. So why not start a new family tradition by celebrating the end of the week with that ‘Friday feeling’? Sit down for a meal together and reflect on the good things that happened to you that week.

THE BENEFITS OF CELEBRATING

SELF-DEVELOPMENT

If life seems to be a constant cycle of tasks and to-dos, it’s easy to feel like you’re on a treadmill, investing all your thoughts and energies on the future. Living in the future creates anxiety and doesn’t give you the opportunity to reflect and learn. Stepping off the treadmill to celebrate moments and milestones along the way forces you to stop, acknowledge the process and absorb what has happened. That’s how we develop and grow.

BUILDING SELF-ESTEEM

Obvious perhaps, but celebrating achievements and marking milestones with the people you love is a way of giving yourself a small pat on the back. The danger is if you hardly ever – or never – do that, you’ll start wondering why you’re bothering. Rewarding yourself with a celebration raises your confidence and self-esteem, and inspires and recharges you. It puts you in the virtuous circle of hard work, achievement, celebration and gratitude.