"Celebrating Life"
By Angela Jackson

"Celebrate good times, C'mon!" Kool and the Gang

Are you a celebrant? I am. I love celebrations, birthdays, holidays, any excuse to laugh, love, sing and cheer. And because I love to celebrate, I've learned to create celebrations throughout the day. Little ones, big ones, because I don't want to wait for the "week-end" or those special occasions. I'm an impatient person you see and I need little spurts of joy to get me through each day. I never know in advance what to celebrate, I merely follow the adage "seek and you shall find." This celebration practice came into being one day when I was feeling dreary and depressed so I started thinking about what makes a life worth living and how to create more celebrations.

Here's what I came up with. For me a life of celebration includes doing work I enjoy, being in a supportive and passionate relationship, having a close connection with family and friends, being spiritually centered and physically fit, learning, changing, expressing creativity, helping others and giving back.

Those last words echoed in my mind. Giving Back! Of course! That's what spurs celebration! Being grateful and giving back! I resolved to start looking for an opportunity to be grateful, and within minutes I heard the singing birds outside my window. That was the beginning. Initially I thought I'd practice being grateful for a week. What happened instead was that the more I looked for something to be grateful for, the more grateful I became and celebrations followed!

I found myself acknowledging the ordinary things in life and I had more appreciation for the people I encountered. By listening to the problems faced by the seamstress and the shoe repair man. I began to create a habit of giving. It might be the parking attendant who gets encouragement and a flower, or someone I'm talking to on the phone who needs special appreciation. It might be when I get an unexpected speaking engagement and feel compelled to take a friend to dinner and celebrate abundance.

I'm not saying I never get upset or frustrated, of course I do. I think human nature is such that we tend to gaze at greener grasses, we compare and kvetch, and often feel hard done by. Whenever I start singing the "poor me" refrain, I forget about my wonderful life, my cause for celebration. But I catch myself, and soon, no matter what the weather is doing or the headlines proclaim, whether I'm stuffy with flu or my car needs repairs, no matter what is going on in my life, I look for something to appreciate, and everything changes.

I've heard people say we learn best through pain, and while I confess I've done a lot of learning the painful way, I've also discovered I learn through joy, and if I have my druthers, I'll take the joy. So this is one way I can absolutely create joy in my life and hopefully spread it to others. And so can you! You can find something to celebrate right now. Here's How: 1) Think of something which makes your lips curl upwards in a smile. 2) Now extend that smile to your left eye then to your right eye. 3) Let the smile fill your being. Feel the warmth of your inner smile radiating throughout your body. Let it fill you up. Luxuriate in it. 4) Pass it on. Call up a colleague or give it to the first person you see and I'll bet you won't want to stop there, you'll want to keep on going and that's what it's all about!