There are only a few things we celebrate as
adults, and most of them have something to do with either birth or
marriage – neither of which we have sole control over. Those things are
exciting and notable and life-changing and absolutely worth
celebrating, no doubt. But there are countless other fantastic things
worth acknowledging as well. It’s not to say you should throw a $50K
celebration over getting through the work week, but that there is more
to life worth being happy about, and celebrating with friends even, than
just what society has deemed so.
1. Promotions. It’s more than a new job, it’s a step
up on the ladder, one that you worked your ass off for. Getting
promoted at work is the acknowledgment that you’re not only someone seen
as suitable to lead, but that you’ve proven yourself and your
commitment to a company and you deserve to revel in that pride.
2. Raises. It doesn’t have to be a change of job,
but even just a small raise, or becoming salaried when you were once
hourly, is important. Financial stability, however that looks for you,
is crucial to a life well lived, and there’s no reason to not celebrate
working hard and being able to live more comfortably because of that.
3. Friendship anniversaries. Relationships come and
go. I don’t know about you, but I have never celebrated a five or even
10 year anniversary with a significant other, but I absolutely have, and
will, with my best friends. It’s ridiculous that we don’t celebrate the
relationships in our lives that we already have, the ones that are
life-long and decidedly forever.
4. Sobriety. When people say they’ve quit drinking,
or that they’re “X days/months/years sober,” it’s often met with
judgment for either having once been addicted or not “being fun and
wanting to go out and drink anymore.” Regardless, the stigmas are false
and unwarranted. We should acknowledge the will-power it takes to
refrain from alcohol or drugs or whatever it is you no longer want in
your body, in spite of what people have and will say.
5. The completion of a project. Often it’s the only
light at the end of the tunnel. Hard work is only celebrated in our
culture as it equates to monetary success, but that isn’t the most
important part of achievement.
6. The end of a chapter. You could be leaving a city
or a home or a habit, whatever it is, commemorate appropriately. Maybe
we wouldn’t get so caught up in the stress of change if we started
seeing it as a good thing, a thing that will better us, a thing that is
worth acknowledging formally.
7. Traveling and returning home safely. Sure, you
can have going away and coming home parties, but those are usually
reserved for people who move somewhere far for a significant period of
time. I’m not saying throw a party for when you come home from vacation,
but if you’re taking time to travel, especially by yourself, you
deserve to come home to a dinner table of family and friends who want to
hear about everything.
8. Overcoming a lifelong struggle, even just for now. The
thing about “lifelong struggles” is that they’re ingrained somewhere
deeply within us, they’re difficult to shake. If you’re able to, even
for a small amount of time, rejoice in that. Forget about forever.
Appreciate what you’ve done and make it a point to commemorate it
appropriately.
9. Quitting a job. We can’t all be Marina Shifrins, but we can all pop the champagne over finally being out from under that awful boss’ dictatorship.
10. Finding a new job. We get so caught up in the
scramble of signing the paperwork and re-adjusting our lives that we
forget how exciting it is to be starting a whole new experience. The
truth is that our jobs do comprise a huge part of our lives, they’re
what we do day-in-and-day-out. Changing them changes us in a huge way.
11. A breakup. Half of getting over heartbreak is
realizing that people leaving and entering our lives is inherently
neither good nor bad, just a changing of experiences. The closing of one
door so another can open. We all look back eventually and are most
grateful some (most) of those relationships didn’t work out.
12. Job anniversaries. Whether you’re celebrating surviving for so long or being happily employed, it’s a time worth noting.
13. The days your life changes forever. The only way
I can think to put this to you is like this: when I graduated college, I
had a party, I received a degree, we celebrated with dinners out with
extended family and gifts and the whole nine yards. But graduating
school wasn’t the day that changed my life. It wasn’t a day that changed
me at all, I was just done taking classes and living in a particular
area. I never acknowledged the days that actually changed me, the days I
had breakthroughs, the day I finished writing my book. The days that
actually mattered in my heart.
14. Resisting the urge to stalk your ex on social media for the umpteenth trillionth time. I believe this can stand alone.
15. Getting over someone. Ask anyone: it’s a feat to
get over some really great loves. They require us to change ourselves
and shift our lives to accommodate their absence, and I’ve found that
that’s often the point of them leaving. Regardless: it’s tiring and
draining and very sad until one day it’s not, and if getting past the
so-called love of your life leaving you isn’t an accomplishment, I don’t
know what is.
16. Being happy. In my opinion, it’s one of the rarest things in the world.
17. Getting through the day. We fall victim to
routine. We get lost in the nuances of daily life and become so drained
by the hours we spend staring at a screen and feeling exhausted that we
lose sight of wanting to celebrate for celebrations’ sake. I always call
my friend(s) and say let’s go out and get drinks because the week’s
over. Sometimes it’s the only way to get through the week. Most times,
it just serves to remind us that we don’t need a reason to be
celebrating life.
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