How Do You Celebrate Challenges?

These past few months have included a whirlwind of events and fun, but also have brought some unprecedented challenges. As you may recall, in April I caught Covid and had to postpone my birthday barbecue.??One friend who was not able to make the new date said, “We must get together on a different day and enjoy a glass of champagne”.??So we did. This friend (pictured with me) had Covid last year, ended up in the hospital and according to the doctors, nearly died.??She now has a very different approach to life, and I have needed to remind myself of her philosophy this past week.

I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say we have two family members who are going through health crises at the moment, and we have just had a major disappointment regarding a planned trip that was already postponed due to the pandemic. All that on top of the usual concerns about work and the people in our lives.

Having many personal development resources at my fingertips, as a result of spending decades in the Tony Robbins environment and staying connected to hundreds of positive people, I can reach into the bag of mindset tools and techniques at any time, to pull myself out of an unresourceful state. However, there is a big difference between simply getting out of an unhelpful state and choosing to really celebrate! I have discovered that there are always things to celebrate, if you stop and look for them.?

It can be difficult to move to the other end of the spectrum, when you feel it’s challenge enough just to get your equilibrium back. If you can do that, though, you overpower the part of your psyche that wants to wallow in misery, or tamp it down. People are looking to thoughtful leaders like us for guidance and direction. They don’t usually think about this or even know they need to be celebrating more, but once they see an inspirational post or blog, or listen to a thoughtful podcast episode, they are often inspired to follow in our footsteps.

So, it’s not only for myself that I challenge myself to celebrate the good things especially when life seems to be against me. Today, I raise a glass to everyone who has battled something difficult this week and made it through to the other side. You can celebrate with me. I also send a heartfelt wish into the universe that those who are still struggling find their way through and are also able to find something to celebrate.

There are many ways to celebrate, and champagne may not be your first choice, even the non-alcoholic kind. You may do a little dance, call a friend, write in a journal or go outside in nature. There’s no right or wrong way, just whatever brings you joy. Of course, you are not necessarily celebrating the challenge itself, but rather something else in your life that is going well and puts the tough stuff into perspective. Cheers to you! From me and my friend Carol x

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