Celebrate When You Are Not Winning

It is easy to celebrate when you win a competition or when things go well. What about celebrating when things are not going well? Some of you may think that there is nothing to celebrate if you do not meet a certain goal or win a certain race. What are we missing if we do not celebrate when things do not go as planned?

You get to celebrate every day if you choose to. Even when things do not seem to go as planned, or you do not seem to be anywhere close to your set goals.

Life is a journey, a journey full of ups and downs, a journey filled with mysterious turns and surprises. While you are going through this journey, what three emotions do you want to experience the most?

For me, I want my life journey to be filled with peace, joy and light-heartedness. You may wonder how I am supposed to do that when things do not go according to my plan.

As we progress and achieve more, we tend to set our expectations higher and higher. With this model, which is a common process, it is easy to fall into the trap of not feeling satisfied or accomplished until you get to the next level. And the next level. You may never get to feel peace because you are always chasing the next big thing in life.

While it is great to have the drive and ambition to achieve greater and better things, it is important to acknowledge yourself and to celebrate along the journey.

When I was in the very first stages of life coaching exposure, my coach asked me to talk about three things that went well during that week. My mind was blank for a while. I was questioning my coach in silence – what went well? Did you mean what went wrong, and the answer was pretty much everything?

If we do not celebrate when things do not go well, then we are missing a big portion of life – acknowledging the whole spectrum of our lives.

Looking back at that time, even though things did not go as I intended, there were many things to celebrate for. Back then was when I was going home from work past 7 pm and still had incomplete patient charts. I felt hopeless, frustrated, angry and impossible. I did not know what to do or how I could go home sooner without cutting down on the number of patients to see.

What went well? What was there worth celebrating? I started to explore. Day after day, I kept showing up for the patients. Even though I was frustrated, I did not quit. I was open to seek help. I was done relying on myself. After multiple different attempts and approaches, I was not able to cut down on the charting time. The helplessness, the frustration, the anger, the stress and the overwhelm I went through and overcame to keep showing up. I learned to utilize the focus and determination to be more efficient.

Acknowledging the hardship and the unpleasant emotions I went through at that time. Validating myself that I was doing great things by overcoming the emotional turmoil. Being grateful for things in life, even though some of them are not pleasant.

Celebrate. Celebrate your journey. Celebrate your experiences, your hardships. Celebrate the unpleasant emotions you have overcome to keep showing up. Celebrate the greatness in you. Celebrate when many other people cannot find what to celebrate for.

It is far more rewarding to be able to celebrate when things do not go well. Look at your journey and your experiences. By celebrating in hard times, you are able to regularly infuse peace, joy, love and light-heartedness in your everyday life.