Let's Celebrate!
So, something really great happened to her. She was so happy. She was so grateful and delightful for the great news that she received.
"Let's celebrate!" she shared the joy with her inner-self.
She then spent nice dinners for herself simply because she was happy, and act as a symbol to celebrate the great news.
While spending and eating, she kept on telling her twin-self, "We received something great, so we should celebrate ! There's no wrong with celebrating !"
I honestly cannot remember since when the word "celebrate" becomes one of my favorite words. It is definitely since the book "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrnes gained super great popularity in the market - but I cannot remember which year.
From "The Secret" to the "Law of Attraction" by Michael J. Losier, the word "Celebration" has been providing me good feelings. I had been reading books about the law, digested them, did some exercises through the templates given, and shared them verbally with others. I practiced them in my daily life - where I couldn't be consistent of, consciously. However, I still spotted some changes in me.
Whatever I've learned and practiced became habits without I realizing it.
Other than being a genuine fan to metaphysics and the law of attraction, I personally feel that every religions teaches us this, but it came in a different word - Gratitude.
Didn't The Almighty promises that the more we give (a sign of being thankful), the more we will get ?
THE CHAIN EFFECT
When we are feeling grateful, we would automatically feel good. There's no way in the world we can be grateful while having bad feelings at the same time. They don't sync. It's the feeling of joy that actually brings the feeling of gratitude.
So, we got a good news - then what do we tend to do ?
- Human tends to SHARE the joy with others. Women will start ambushing friends to convey how happy they are. Men will suddenly become talkative and expressive. We would also pray and sujud to The Almighty to express our big thanks.
What usually happens during the sharing moment with the others ?
- We scream or shout our lungs out of excitement, we run to our families or friends and hug them, we laugh, we jump over and over again, we clap hands, or if it is a huge deal, we'll celebrate it with our beloved ones during a lunch, dinner or supper. We grab ice-creams and chocolates. Or we even cry. Too happy we cry.
The sharing that we do is a simple process of thanking The Almighty that we are so grateful for what he has given us. The actions that we acted through out the sharing moments is the best example of CELEBRATION.
CELEBRATE
To celebrate has various meanings. To me, it is subject to individuals. To me, to celebrate means my sudden reactions towards receiving something great.
Whenever I received a good news, or whenever I find things that I can be thankful of, I could celebrate by simply screaming "Yeaayyy!!!" while clapping hands. I could also raise both of my hands and recited "Alhamdulillah" immediately. I could also call my Mom to share the news with. Sometimes I would carry one of my cat and talk to him/her, "We got it ! Let's celebrate !" while throwing him/her in the air like a baby. Sometimes, I would spend for myself with no limits - expensive meals, lazying around on the bed while watching my favorite movie, or buy a lot of fresh fishes for my cats. Sometimes I donate to the unfortunate ones. Sometimes I laugh for no reasons. Sometimes I write them in my Daily Journal of Gratitude.
Now, how do you celebrate ?
WHY CELEBRATE ?
It means nothing if it is not genuine.
I have to highlight this before I go further. God knows if you are lying. Don't fake a happiness and celebrate it because you are not offering a good genuine vibe but only a bad fake vibe. OK, do not think about the vibe - but think about you - can you fake a happiness and celebrate it ? Can you fake a sincere smile ? Can you even force yourself to smile when you do not want to ? Can you control your expression and face muscles from being fake to being sincere and genuine ?
Take a moment to reflect this.
I can only think of how painful my cheekbones would be.
....and please keep the answers to yourself.
*******
To be thankful, grateful and to celebrate every little excitements that come in your life is a super huge deal of being appreciative. To whom? To Him, and to YOURSELF too.
Imagine having done a great deal for a friend and then be left out and betrayed with no single appreciations. It hurts. Would you help the same friend again ? You may, or you may not. If you may, you will perhaps limit your assistance. If you may not, that shows how hurt you are.
With the absence of these elements, wouldn't you think that He will be offended too ? Wouldn't you think that you YOURSELF would be hurt too?
Offending your Creator is one big thing. He has so many he wouldn't mind giving, and He doesn't lose anything.
But offending yourself is something you should think about deeply. As much as you want others to respect, love, care, appreciate, and treat you good, don't you think that you need to do all that TO YOURSELF first ?
Celebrating every little things in life makes you a grateful and thankful person. Not only that, you will be conquered by all the good feelings of happiness and joys. These are for YOU. The reflections goes to YOU. The results goes to YOU.
You will Love more too. When we appreciate, means we are grateful for having more than enough that could make us happy. We'll be more sensitive towards the others' needs too. The feeling of abundance is for YOU and YOUR health.
Life is a reflection, remember?
WHAT EXACTLY TO CELEBRATE ?
This is very subjective. It is also depending on how one measures events that he/she can be thankful of. Some would only see bigger things. While some would see every little things as abundances. Unfortunately, some are not able to see anything.
Let's look at few examples :
Single career women would not know how to be grateful for being single. While married women who has a difficult marriage life would be grateful if she can just leave the marriage.
The formula is :
Single career women may not be able to celebrate being alone, but there are a lot of areas that they can be grateful of, such as, freedom of time, good career and stable income, more time can be spent with family and friends, more time to get involved in own passions, etc.
Married women who have a difficult marriage may not be able to celebrate being in a difficult marriage, but they can choose to be thankful for having children, opportunities to be in love, learn the hard ways that make them more matured and independent, etc.
IT'S A CHOICE. What exactly that you can celebrate and be thankful for is YOUR CHOICE and entirely depending on HOW YOU LOOK AT LIFE.
*****
Nothing to be worried of as each one of us can start with something small. Only by being able to see and appreciate LITTLE THINGS in life enable us to see and appreciate bigger things in life.
We do not need to travel to Syria to experience being thankful. It starts here - wherever we are.
Allow me to share on how I appreciate and celebrate little things everyday, until it is now a habit :
EVENT 1:
Yesterday, my colleague and I texted through whatsapp (despite the fact that we are sitting facing each other). She asked me to ask a supplier if the item that she wanted can be delivered on Friday. I replied, OK. I then texted the supplier with exactly the same question. It took approximately 1 minute for me to realize that I had wrongly sent the text ! I sent it back to my same colleague. And we both were puzzled for awhile, until we realized how stupid and funny the situation was. I couldn't stop laughing over my own blur-ness I cried. My colleague laughed her stomach cramped ! That was the hardest we laughed since a few months.
I appreciate the ability to laugh that hard and that sincere I ended up celebrating the event. I celebrate by recalling the event again and again, I ended up smiling alone until I went to bed.
EVENT 2:
Each morning when I wake up, even though it requires me to drag myself to work, and in that dizziness, I would make sure to be thankful that I am still alive. One funny fact is that, I have a cat who loves to knock and scratch my bedroom door with his loud meow. He will not stop until I open the door. I often get irritated. But each time when I 'force' myself to wake up and after thanking Him for the extra day to live, my mind has already been set-up on how beautiful it is to be able to hear the noise my cat makes everyday. It shows that he is still there at home, and he disturbs me because he is dependent on me and relies on me. The power I have a his "mother" makes me feel good.
I celebrate my mornings by welcoming my cat in my room and tell him that I am not going to leave him so he doesn't need to be worried. And I will put on make-ups to work (I was lazy once and it resulted to people not appreciating my looks). I celebrate by making sure I sing in the car while I drive to the office.
EVENT 3:
It was only around last week, my colleague surprised me with a nicely printed list of motivational affirmations. It made my day. The way she placed that paper in between my writing book really made my day. I opened the book and saw a beautiful piece of A4 paper. I smiled.
I celebrate it straight away by pinning it up on my cubicle. I snapped a photo of it, and posted it in my Facebook and Instagram, and tagged her name as well. I wasn't only celebrating it, but also returning the same appreciation and love to her.
EVENT 4:
An ex-primary school mate initiated to re-blossom the tradition of giving physical Hari Raya cards to friends. I wasn't really into it at first. I tend to be the one who received the cards since these past years but not yet the one who returned. For some reasons, I was called to join in the effort. I started texting friends for addresses. Of course, there were few who unacknowledged my text. Despite lack of cash that day, I bought packs of greeting cards for about 30 friends. That night itself I wrote on all 30, wishing them a last long friendship. I felt good and different. Few days after that I posted them out. Recently, friends started snapping photos of my cards and conveyed their thankfulness and expressed how sweet it is.
I actually started to celebrate something before celebrating the results of receiving shower of thanks from them. I actually celebrated friendships. I celebrated the initiative that a friend put in, and his initiative made me a thankful person and a more responsive person towards beautiful things. Sending them the greeting cards was actually an act of returning my Love for them. And of course, I have more reasons to celebrate now by decorating my hall with all of the greeting cards I received from them. I celebrated a lot in just one event.
EVENT 5:
I have someone that I called a best friend. We were in the same college. We seldom meet, but she has been there for me regardless situations. When I mean 'situations', those were dramatic situations ! I have been showing my gratitude by always being there for her too and fulfilled her requests whenever she needed me to. When our age is catching up, I noticed her becoming more pious, which I envy. She's now married, with a daughter, but living such a humble life. I wouldn't have known all of her difficulties if she didn't shared them with me when we met. She's a type of friend who really look at situations and persons in different perspectives. I called her overly-positive. When I read motivational books about becoming an extraordinary person, I noticed she has almost all of the traits. And I would claimed silently, "No wonder..." I am so grateful to have such a friend. Whenever I have issues with my own self, or if I am disappointed towards people or situations, I would contact her. She would drag me out of the negative zone and bring me to another zone where I would see a lot more of WHAT I HAVE instead of WHAT I DON'T HAVE. And she would advice me not to make any judgement.
I have been celebrating this friendship. I never feel shameful of expressing "I love you". Each time she came to my house, I would make sure I served her with great food. Each time I pray, I would make sure to wear the prayer attire that she gave me so she would get more pahala from the Almighty.
HOW TO MAKE IT A HABIT ?
Reflecting back to my early paragraphs, I myself did not practiced this consistently, but genuinely. I did not mark my calendar and counted to 21 days (according to a theory) and evaluated myself whether it had became my habit. I just knew that I've becoming more positive, more grateful, and I am now looking at life differently. My sights have becoming wider and deeper. This has been ongoing for years, and I'm thankful that I'm still growing better and better every day.
My approach is to read, learn, digest and understand what I read - wholeheartedly. I would then think and reflect those with my past life and my old self. I started to realize that I did mistakes. Then I tried to practice it in my daily life by appreciating EVERY LITTLE THINGS in life, as little as thanking God for making the traffic light green.
I also tend to practiced this whenever I was alone because talking to myself is far more comfortable than having to practiced it when someone is sitting next to me. When I drive and look for a good parking spot, I would talk to myself, "Thank you for this one good parking nearest to the store ! Thank you !" - and act insanely alone behaving as though I got the parking spot already.
Yes, you can also practice it while you are in a company of others. The way is by responding positively to whatever they said. Do not agree with any negative points. Do not let your mates to be ungrateful. Do not let them drown in their problems. You can help by pulling them back to "...there must be reasons behind it. It could be..." - you list them. You can help yourself by choosing how would you respond to a negative company. If this doesn't work, then it is not you, but it's the people around you. Help them change, but do not be glued with people who do not know how to be thankful for the fact that they are still living today.
Be welcoming. If I hand you RM 1 Million now without having to pay me back, would you take it ? I would if someone offers. That's a simple example of being welcoming to all good things that come to you. It can be something physical, emotions, advice, love, hugs, compliments - anything !
Keep a daily journal of Gratitude. Use words such as "I am thankful", "I appreciate", "I am happy", "I am grateful" to begin your sentences with. Writing down affirmations has connections to how you feel and think. Remember when we were in school, teachers tend to asked us to re-write what's already in the textbooks ? That's a proven to experiential learning. Re-write and re-read repetitively would bypass the conscious memory and be planted in our sub-conscious memory - which, will then become a habit. While re-reading the journal boosts up your beliefs that beautiful things do exist. That's what we want to tell our sub-conscious mind.
Shut your mouth and stop your fingers from talking and typing COMPLAINTS. I have someone in my Facebook who has a lot of things to complain about. She may not have the intentions to complain, but I understand that it has already becoming her habit. Her daily status would always lead to her sounding unsatisfied with the traffic, office matters, colleagues, neighbors, and keeps comparing things, people and countries and places ! She does the same in whatever she shared (quotes, news, etc). The sharing would always end up with a complain, and sadly, showing how more educated she is than anyone else. How I understand this is because I saw the same pattern in her speech everyday. Until at one time I thought, are the others a problem, or is she the one with problems ? We are not acquaintance, but see how strong a bad vibe can reflect yourself to others who are not even in your circulation. Prevent yourself from this habit.
So, are you ready to celebrate ?
