... Cause it makes life so much SWEETER
Someone and I have no idea who said
"Find the Ordinary and CELEBRATE the Ordinary."
The first time I heard this, I was like well if that ain't an oxymoron. The reason the ordinary is the ordinary is because it is boring and has no reason for celebrating. If it were worth celebrating we would not call it ordinary. We have words for those moments. Words like Special, Exceptional, Amazing, Unbelievable, Extra-ordinary, Out of this WORLD, Unique, Noteworthy. You know words that elicit a certain reaction in our brains to make us pay attention. So saying to celebrate the ORDINARY makes no sense.
However; I think in our current climate this is essential for our well being. With social media, we have the access to see what is happening in other people's life at all times. I know for myself, I easily get caught up with looking at what other people have or comparing myself to see how I measure up. Forgetting that social media is nothing but a highlight reel for people. No one really shows the failures, everything looks amazing and well put together. Which leads to this downward spiral of asking myself "What am I doing with my life?" Forgetting all the blessings around me. Theodore Roosevelt said
But that quote to Find the Ordinary and then Celebrate in the Ordinary, flipped a switch in my head
It caused me to think of things differently. It made me stop looking outwardly for reasons to celebrate. It made me realize there are so many reasons to celebrate, I just have to pay attention to them. I don't need the validation of someone else to celebrate. I am allowed to just celebrate. Because celebrating is a deep part of being human. It helps us push forward, it gives us strength to fight another day.
The inspiration for this post was an Instagram post I saw the the other day
And as you guys know I am a finance nerd, so I look at a lot of things through the lenses of Finance. And in this space, it is SO EASY to start comparing. To see other people and just wonder why am I SO BEHIND? Or as my Mom used to say “Do they have two heads?”
I was feeling this way about myself cause I saw someone's highlight reel and starting comparing my whole life to a person's 60 seconds IG Reel (just think about that for a second. I was comparing 27 years of life to a 60 second blip). But then I saw The Quote above which as true millennial prompted me to Tweet about it
This tweet did two things for me:
Allowed me to RAGE and Let out my frustration because unfortunately I no longer live by myself so I cannot just yell stuff out like I have done in the past
It was a moment of celebration to realize that I am making progress in my life.
The other lens and the lens that carries A LOT more weight as to how I see the world is my FAITH (What you thought the God Bless You was just a greeting at the end? Nope its prayer for everyone reading this newsletter.)
There is a bible verse that says,
There is something that happens to our brain when we find reasons to give thanks. There is something of a hope that is revived when we look at our lives and we say, "I am alive" that is reason to be thankful. I just pooped this morning that is a reason to give thanks. I woke up and got mad at my friend for making me clean up after myself. That is a reason to give thanks.
Giving thanks is just another way to say CELEBRATE. So find those small things, those small victories. DO NOT WAIT for BIG MASSIVE things to happen. In the small everyday MUNDANE, BORING, ORDINARY things:
Do a little dance
Sing a ridiculous song
Pound your chest
Clap your hands
Stomp Your Feet
DO THE LEBRON
Whatever you want to do in that moment
Just CELEBRATE those victories.
And if you have someone special with you, celebrate it with them.
Make it a REGULAR effort.
Because when you do, Life gets just a bit SWEETER!
Remember Generosity > greed
God Bless Each and Everyone of Y'all
✌🏾
-Kelechi