I’m writing this from a place of utter exhaustion and happiness - two feelings that don’t often go hand-in-hand. As I’m sure most of the people in my life can attest, I’m generally not delightful when I’m tired. 😉 But sometimes, the exhaustion is a side effect of a phenomenal weekend, and it’s a side effect I’ll gladly endure. We spent the past few days celebrating the wedding of two really wonderful friends in beautiful Santa Rosa, and my cup is overflowing. 

A few weeks ago, my friend Molly ran the Eugene marathon (her 15th marathon?!) and when I was talking to her afterward, she mentioned how fun it is to celebrate a big accomplishment, but that she wished we didn’t save the celebrations for just a few select occasions. Molly is very wise. We love birthdays, weddings, graduations and marathons for a reason, but if we reserve the good times for just a few major life events, we miss out on so many reasons to celebrate ourselves and each other.

You know when you go to a restaurant and they say, “Are we celebrating anything special this evening?” I understand why they ask (and it often means there’s free cheesecake involved for birthdays, so I don't hate it), but I always want to say back “it’s Wednesday!” or “the house is clean!” or “I washed AND dried my hair today!” (Just kidding, I never manage to dry my hair). It always seems like kind of a redundant question, because if you’re going out to dinner, isn’t that a celebration in and of itself? You’re most likely in the company of people you like, you’re eating food that someone else cooked, you’re probably going to laugh, and you don’t have to do any dishes. That’s a party already - you don’t need a specific reason to enjoy it. 

In this same spirit, here are a few ideas of excuses to celebrate: 

• A win at work - closing a sale, having a productive conversation with your boss, pitching a new idea, receiving positive feedback from a client, wrapping up a project, losing a client who was a drain on your energy, a glowing review… There is a lot more to progress at work than just receiving a promotion.

• Advocating for yourself - this is a big deal. It’s hard to do, it requires a lot of courage and it doesn’t always feel great in the moment, but it’s absolutely worth celebrating afterward.

• Pushing yourself athletically - lifting heavier weights at the gym, running further than you’ve ever run, nailing that yoga pose, or simply moving when you don’t feel like it. These are all reasons to feel proud.

• Good weather - one of the things I loved about living in the Pacific Northwest was that no one took a nice day for granted. If it was sunny, the whole city was at the park. It’s a vibe and I intend to continue the tradition wherever we end up next. 

• General gratitude celebration - I feel this whenever my family gets together. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, so just the getting to be together feels like a party (and often is). 

• Incremental improvements - these often go unrecognized because they aren't specific to a particular event, but if you’ve improved your health, or stuck with a new habit, or quit a habit or person who wasn’t good for you, you should celebrate. 

The biggest secret here? Celebrate other people. It feels good to have our own accomplishments recognized, but it is so much fun to see the people you love flying high. That was the magic of this weekend - we got to soak in all the good vibes of watching two people we love have the time of their lives. Finding excuses to laugh, drink, dance, and be merry in honor of the people we care about is good for everyone. I was told once to always keep a bottle of champagne in the fridge for this exact reason - you never know when something wonderful is about to happen. 

Wishing you all a week of celebrating the small things. I hope you find a reason to pop the champagne!