Many people have difficulty celebrating. Are you one of them? Would you like to know why you should celebrate more? Yes?

Yayyy! Read on…

Many of us have been conditioned to not celebrate. When we were young, and started celebrating an accomplishment or just something good in our lives, our parents discouraged us from celebrating by saying such things like…

Stop that! You’re going to jinx it!
Don’t be happy. It’s probably not going to last.
Don’t be a show off!
Don’t be a smart ass!

And/or, maybe no matter what we did and how well we did it, they never even gave us the chance, much less the encouragement to celebrate, by saying such things like…

Don’t gloat! You were just lucky!
Get over yourself. You just did what you were supposed to do!
Yes, you did it. BUT, you could’ve done it better!

Do any of these comments above sound familiar? Growing up with comments like these, we not only stopped celebrating but learned to feel guilty and ashamed for wanting to celebrate, especially the little, yet most important accomplishments and blessings in our lives that have helped us get to where we are today.

My husband, Joe, was diagnosed with a chronic illness and almost died the first time at age 18. From age 18 to age 39, he was extremely grateful and celebrated every day of what he considered borrowed time. And, aren’t we all here on borrowed time?

Last weekend, I had the privilege of being on the Kim Pagano Show with Dan Caro, the author of The Gift of Fire: How I Made Adversity Work for Me. Dan is a drummer who has no hands. Yes, Dan has no hands but has played with Carlos Santana and many more! When he was asked, “What has been your greatest accomplishment?” You know what he said?

“Tying my shoes.”

(Listen to our interviews on Podcasts at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kim-pagano-show/id508620444?mt=2&i=1000394408611.)

When was the last time you woke up in the morning and gave thanks and celebrated for having been given the gift of one more day? When was the last time you were grateful and celebrated having the ability to tie your shoes?

Celebration is Gratitude! Gratitude is Joy! Joy is Healing!

To celebrate is to observe something notable (Attention), to be thankful for it (Intention) and by taking part of a festivity to honor it (Action).

Celebrating is being grateful and showing it in some way. And, this is very good for our bodies, our minds and our spirits.

Gratitude creates one of the most beautiful, [strong, healthy] water crystals in our bodies! (Masaru Emoto, Ph.D., The Hidden Messages in Water, 2001) When we are in a state of gratitude and celebration, we are in a state of joy. Joy is a high vibrational state of consciousness, where healing takes place. (David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, 2012)

Yes, when we are in a state of gratitude, joy and celebration, the water molecules in our bodies transform into beautiful, strong, healthy snowflake-like shapes; our minds and spirits reach high vibrational states of consciousness; and our minds and bodies heal!

Let’s learn from Joe and Dan.

Start Again, Not Over, with gratitude, joy and celebration!

ATTENTION

Observe, notice, acknowledge something – an ability, a capacity, an accomplishment, a gift, a blessing, a happy situation and a happy occasion in your life.

INTENTION

Make the Intention, decision, choice to honor it and be truly grateful for all you paid attention to above.

ACTION

Take Action! Create and take part in a festivity of your choice to show your joy and gratitude for all you paid attention to above.

What are you truly grateful for and how do you plan to celebrate it? Please share with us below. We would love to hear from you…