Celebrate

Learning that I love it the most from Ikigai is: Celebrate each day together.

This chapter made me wonder that why do we pull away so much from celebrations? I was thinking of multiple instances. I rememberd people telling me or each other about postponing the celebrations. We will celebrate when we go to a bigger house. We will celebrate after we buy a new car. We will celebrate after my final exams. We will celebrate once I get a new job. We will celebrate on my next birthday. We will celebrate after I get married. Why do we plan the celebration in the future that is uncertain? Why do we not plan them in the present? Why do we not celebrate today and wait for tomorrow? I could not find an answer to these questions.

Forget about others but I can say from my own experience that I had always postponed celebrations. For years I kept waiting for the next big thing to celebrate something. Sometimes the next big thing occurred while others it did not occur. If at all the next big thing occurred I still waited for the next bigger thing to occur to celebrate. This way I had missed out on celebrating a lot of achievements and milestones.

It was in my 30s I realised that we do not need to wait for the next big thing. We can celebrate everything. Rather we should celebrate everything. I realised that even a small celebration gives us the motivation. It inspires us to achieve bigger things. It keeps us going for the next big thing that we are so desperately waiting for. Even small celebrations help us to boost our dopamine levels which make us happy. We hold the key to our happiness in our own hands but we hesitate a lot from using that key to unlock the doors of happiness.

In the recent times I decided to implement this in my life. A small achievement in a project I would celebrate it regardless of the volume and intensity of it. It could not be significant for others but it was significant for me because it indicated that I am moving ahead. Even a small achievement told me that I am progressing. And this progress deserved a celebration. It could be a chocolate, pizza, or cupcake but everything deserved a celebration. And if we invite more people to celebrate with us then the happiness that comes from celebration increases multifold. If nobody else we can still celebrate with our parents, siblings, friends, or close family members who would be happy to be a part of your celebration. I had decided to celebrate everything because everything that happens in our lives gives a reason to celebrate.

I would like to end by talking about birthday celebrations. When I was a child I was told that birthday celebrations are only for children and once I go older I should stop celebrating them. I did follow that to a greater extent. When the pandemic hit and I lost so many friends, I realised that I should celebrate the birthday every year irrespective of how old I was. I started celebrating my birthday again because there was a reason. I was still alive. I wanted to celebrate my birthday for all the friends I had lost who were not even able to see their 35th birthday. I decided to dedicate each of my birthday to them. Ever since that I celebrate my birthday though it is a small celebration.

I hope this article inspired you to celebrate each day because "Yesterday was a history, tomorrow is a mystery. What we have is today, which is called present".

Everyday is a blessing and celebrate it wisely.