Celebrate!

Resolutions, goals and dreams are written out in living color. Action plans are in place and accountability is established. Choices that lead to the accomplishment of 2014 goals are in process. If you have not yet taken any of these steps please read and take action on part 1, part 2 and part 3 of this New Year blog series before continuing.

There is one more crucial step to successfully accomplishing resolutions, goals and dreams this year: Celebration!

Celebration at the end of the journey? Yes! Celebration throughout the journey? YES!

If I accomplish something that I have really worked hard for, that seems like the appropriate time to celebrate, and it is. But there is also great value in celebrating the small things along the journey. I believe that celebrating along the way is crucial to success! This is a tough one for me. Sometimes I don't feel like I have anything to celebrate, but there always is.

I recently had an opportunity to think about this. We had interesting (to say the least!) airline travel this past week. Joe had spoken at a youth winter camp over the weekend and was set to fly home Sunday evening. Sunday's flight was canceled. He tried again on Monday to no avail. Tuesday he was actually bumped out of his buckled airplane seat for another night away. Ouch! That one hurt. All I wanted was for Joe to get home. To top things off, the kids (who had already been on a three week Christmas vacation) were home from school Monday and Tuesday because of wind-chills below zero. So, not only were they still home from school, but they could not even go outside. And beyond that, I was sick.

I really wanted things to go back to normal - Joe home, kids at school, me healthy. In my mind, if  all of those things  could happen (I would have been thrilled to just have Joe home) I could celebrate! Having them would be so sweet, but there was something that could make having all of these things even sweeter.

What is it that makes a sweet victory even sweeter? Celebrating the small things along the way.

A long face, pity party, or being downright angry while waiting for what I really want, would actually rob joy from the victory. So I chose to be thankful and celebrate progress. Joe made it from Iowa to Chicago - celebrate! I felt a little better Tuesday than I did Monday - celebrate! The kids had an extra few days to recover from jet lag - celebrate! The snow was beautiful - celebrate! Our family was safe even though we were apart - celebrate! There were so many things to celebrate, even though complete "victory" was not yet guaranteed. And when I received the message that Joe was actually on a plane headed home, the celebration increased and was oh so sweet. I felt no regret for the previous days. I knew I had given my best and was thankful throughout the process.

How can you celebrate your journey? What small victories can you celebrate along the way? Choose to see the joy, success and progress as you move confidently in the direction of your dreams!

The journey is often tough, but is always worth it! Be Extraordinary!