What is your reason to celebrate?
Come on! Let’s celebrate!
I am sure we all love to hear those words. Although, reading this expression may not instill any feelings, but what if a friend calls and says ‘Come, let’s celebrate’? How would you react to that?
I reckon, you would be like, “Cool, but what’s the occasion?”
Even when a colleague or an acquaintance distributes sweets or chocolates. We usually ask, “Hey, What’s up buddy? What’s special?”
We all believe that there has to be some reason, something special for celebration.
Occasion is insignificant
Almost everyone is hard-wired to know the reason for celebration. I too had a comparable mind-set until I reached the third year of my graduation. I still remember that pleasant Sunday morning. I was enjoying a good read in my hostel room when I got a call from a very close friend. She said that there was a small party at her home, and she wanted me to join them. Just like any other normal human being, I asked her, what’s special?
‘Nothing special’, she replied. ‘It’s just that my brother’s exams are over and we are having a small party at home’, she added.
‘Oh! Okay! Your brother did well in his exams and you people are celebrating that!’ I said.
‘Nothing like that’, came the reply. Actually, his exams were tough and he is not expecting a good result, she responded. I certainly got confused. I asked her, then why are you people celebrating? At least, you should wait until the results are out. If the results are better than expected then you can celebrate, I said.
To which she sternly responded – “We don’t celebrate the results, we celebrate the efforts“.
Wow! That was a different insight altogether. All this time I believed that people celebrate success, and that is true too; but who said that celebration is only for those who succeed? It is essential for everyone who takes efforts. Giving yourself some credit for your efforts is important and making a full-hearted attempt is worth celebrating.
You may argue that before celebration we should have a sense of satisfaction too. However, what we must understand is that – “Satisfaction should always be in the efforts put in, and not in the results gained”.
If you are satisfied with you efforts, it does not matter what the results are as results are not in your control.
Learn from Children
My wife once told me about an incident from her childhood. She used to live in a small village with her parents and there was no proper water supply to her house at that time. Her mother used to fetch water from a nearby river and walked all the way to the house carrying the pail of water. She had to do this many times so that there is sufficient water for the day. Seeing her mother’s hardship, my wife, who was just 5 years old at the time, wanted to help.
She immediately took a bowl that her tiny hands could manage to hold and followed her mom to the river. She filled the bowl and returned home. She repeated the process 2-3 times. Almost half of the bowl would be empty by the time she reached home, and still, she used to feel happy. She felt satisfied with her efforts.
You would have noticed that kids often are not concerned about the results. They enjoy their efforts. Just pushing a toy car or throwing a ball or dressing up a doll makes them clap their hands and jump around with joy. It is their way of celebrating their efforts.
Celebrate the process
The celebration doesn’t always mean loud music, dance and booze with your friends. It can be as simple as enjoying your favourite cup of tea or some pasta at the comfort of your home and appreciating the beautiful pigeons running around on your neighbour’s rooftop. Understand that your efforts have taken you one step closer to your goal. Even if the result was not in your favour, recognize that your efforts have certainly brought a change in you.
Well! I was lucky enough to have got the opportunity to attend my friend’s party. Her family taught me that no matter what, every effort counts. Just think about it, how cool would it be when our entire family gets together and appreciates our efforts and not our results? We will always have a different approach to setbacks. Isn’t it? Even if we could not do well, we will not feel like a failure.
So, let us stop criticizing the outcome, and celebrate the process.
By the way, What is your reason to celebrate?
November 17, 2022 @ 2:28 pm
Thanks for sharing.