Celebrate Good Times, Come On

Just a pretty flower from this summer's garden

One of my writing friends congratulated me on my book and author rankings today, which was really nice. Then she stumped me by saying "Hope you had a little celebration!" Because, see, I'm really bad at celebrating, and I think that's probably a bad way to be. That made me start doing my favorite thing - researching!

The first article I read promised to tell me "Why It's Important to Celebrate. A lot." Turns out they don't touch on celebrations so much as gratitude, but I see where they're going. And this is a great summary of why an attitude of gratitude is a key to a great life:

Daily gratitude writings resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Even better, those in the “gratitude” group experienced less depression and stress, were more likely to help others, exercised more consistently and made greater progress toward achieving personal goals. Dr. Emmons’ research also shows that those who celebrate their lives by practicing gratitude tend to be more creative, bounce back more quickly from adversity, have a stronger immune system and have stronger social relationships than those who don’t practice gratitude. “To say we feel grateful is not to say that everything in our lives is necessarily great,” he says, “It just means we are aware of our blessings.”

"Why It's Important to Celebrate. A lot." on Life Reimagined

But are an attitude of gratitude and celebration connected more clearly? According CoreU Coaching, they are.

Look where celebration falls [in the Authentic Cycle of Probability] – right after gratitude and just before completion. That’s an extremely powerful stage of the cycle that should not be overlooked.

Five Good Reasons to Celebrate More Often on CoreU Coaching

In that article he reminds us that "Celebration is emotional nourishment." That sounds good to me. It sounds snuggly and yummy and all sorts of other positive things. Now I want me some celebration. If you're thinking you'd like to take time to celebrate a little but don't have any ideas (that's quite often a problem of mine), check out: "50 Simple Ways to Celebrate" on Daring to Live Fully.

Now, these concepts aren't exactly new to me. I knew about the Attitude of Gratitude. And heck, for years I've owned the book "Ice Cream for Breakfast: If You Follow All the Rules You Miss Half the Fun." Quite often I'm even the life of the party... but I probably planned the party. Honestly, I'd rather plan a party than attend one. But the thing that it feels like I need (other than reminders, obviously) is to know how I should celebrate.

Dr. Alice Chan is there for me and reminds me that I should do whatever is meaningful to me. Her example of this is great because so many of us (including herself) would never choose the reward - a full day of uninterrupted exercise. She also has one of my favorite quotes on this topic. "Celebration signals to your subconscious – and your inner critic – that you are thankful for the progress you are making toward your dream." That's a lovely way to look at it. Check out "Importance of Celebration" by Dr. Alice Chan.

So what does Dr. Chan's advice tell me? I JUST CELEBRATED BY IGNORING EVERYTHING ELSE FOR 30 MINUTES AND RESEARCHING CELEBRATION. I really do love research. My husband gave me the nickname Soogle.

Meanwhile, that author who triggered this pontification? USA Today Bestseller Julie Johnstone, the same one who encouraged me to apply to BookBub again (the ad responsible for said surge in book and author rankings). I'm very grateful to have Julie in my life. She can be your BFF (Book Friend Forever) if you go visit her over at her website http://juliejohnstoneauthor.com/ where you can check out her Romantic Regency Romps.