Celebrate good times, come on, sang Kool and the Gang in 1980. Now I'm showing my age, but it begs the question.....
Why do we celebrate?
It’s a good question to ask, we seem to have being doing it since ancient times. In the book of Ecclesiastes it says "there is a time to mourn and a time to dance".
So why is it on certain times of the year, birthdays, anniversaries, Guy Fawkes, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, New Year we gather in groups ,we come together and we celebrate.
I think mainly it's because as humans we have a need to come together, to be a part of our tribe, our group, to be with like-minded people, to support, help and be supported and helped.
Our world is full of war, fighting, disease, crime, if you believe the media, it’s a world to be feared and in this culture of fear, we fight back with coming together as a group. We feel stronger, capable, forceful stable and secure in our group, our tribe.
So if coming together makes us feel good, we have fun, laughter and entertainment, then why don't we do this every day?
Research has shown that laugher, fun and feeling good about ourselves leads to improved health, we sleep better, it fights anxiety, depression and builds our resilience.
So how can we celebrate every day? For me it's about developing my attitude of gratitude.
Every day I look for things that I'm grateful for and I write them down. Over time it's transformed my outlook on life and my ability to really enjoy what I do every day.
Research has shown that writing a gratitude journal gives you higher levels of enthusiasm, determination, optimism, energy and you're more likely to help others. It's also shown that people experience less depression and stress, which I can say I've found in my own life.
They also say you are more likely to exercise consistently which I'm hoping is true.
You're more likely to achieve your personal goals, be more creative, bounce back more quickly from adversity, have a strong immune system and have great social relationships.
What are you doing to increase all these benefits.
Lots of people tell me that they don't really know how to do it!
Here's how I do it -
I buy a lovely journal, notebook, one I really like
I spend 2 - 3 minutes thinking of all the good things that happened in the day
I think about the challenges I've faced in the day
I give thanks to the universe
Set my phone for 1 minute
Start scribbling in the journal. Everything that comes into my mind I write down, the good, the bad and the ugly for one minute. When the bell sounds, that's it for the day.
My final entry is personal to me, but always the same.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.”