Happy Day...Not!

Today was NOT a good day!  On a scale of 1 (everything wrong; absolutely nothing to smile about; not one ounce of happiness)  to  10 (completely happy; no problems; no worries; everything is hunky-dory), my day was about a 5.  I won't go into all the details (such as how I cut one finger and burned another), but let's just say I'm glad the day is almost over!  Ironically, as I was going through some papers tonight I came across an article I had read and kept awhile back.  The title? 

                    PRACTICAL  WAYS  TO  CELEBRATE  LIFE  EVERYDAY

I sure haven't felt like celebrating today but I decided to re-read the article and it certainly gave me some food for thought.  I do like to celebrate but I can't say I celebrate on a daily basis, but maybe I should.  So, how do we go about doing this? 

• The first step is recognizing what we can celebrate.  Now somedays it's very easy to see what we can celebrate about...a job promotion, a family birthday, finding a $5 bill on the street.  We don't have these kinds of events everyday, and some days when things are going especially bad, we can barely fake a smile....we certainly don't plan a celebration.  But when you stop and think about it, EVERY DAY has something to celebrate.  Today my grandson said he had a great day at school....celebrate!  My sweet hubby told me he loved my meat loaf....celebrate!  The sun was shining instead of more rain clouds...celebrate!  God loves me....celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!

• The second step in daily celebration is deciding how we are going to celebrate.  We don't have to have a party every day to celebrate all the good things in our lives.  Just sharing our thoughts with our family or friends (or pets);  writing in a journal; spending time alone reflecting on the blessings of the day; or saying a prayer of thanksgiving...all of these are ways of celebrating our day.

Some other points the author of this article made I think are worth sharing (and remembering):

•  We shouldn't let a single day go by that we don't tackle or complete a hard task...and then celebrate our accomplishment.  (If we don't take care of the things that are difficult or unpleasant, they are just going to pile up and then we'll become more stressed out).
• Celebrate every instance where you help someone in any way and celebrate every time you forgive a bit more or love a bit more.  (These are the greatest cause for celebration!)

Why do we celebrate?  When we can look about us at our own individual lives and find reasons for celebration, then we bring happiness into our own lives and we bring happiness to others.       I was thinking that today was a "terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day" but on second thought, maybe it wasn't so bad after all!  Hope your day was a great one!

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.  A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones."  Proverbs