Celebrate the now…!

Celebrate the now :

Tired already? That time of the year, so tired that even your tired is tired now? Know that feeling? Me too, that is until I did something about it.

Advertisers have already being enticing consumers with preparations for Christmas. In fourteen weeks, millions of people will make New Year Resolutions, most of which will not be honoured.

The annual leave has been hoarded for the precious days ahead. Mine included. We celebrate our wedding anniversary and the month later, my birthday. As much as I anticipate those days, I have no intention of wishing the remainder of this year away. So what if the office Christmas party seems like it is a long way away. It is getting to those momentous days that we need to focus on. In this busyness that is all consuming, life seems to be galloping ahead and we seem to have the lost the moment.

How fortuitous is it that this morning, as I was thinking of our inspirational Valerie Cullers,  I received this word via another lovely lady whose very essence depicts goodness and light.

Verse: Ecclesiastes 3:11
‘He has made everything beautiful in its time.’
– The Lord is in the business of turning things around and making them beautiful.
– He says He will takes our ashes and bring forth beauty.
– He will take our desperate situations and work them all out for the good.
– Sometimes the timing doesn’t make sense to us, but He controls that as well.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You that You make everything beautiful in its time. Take my life and my situation and bring forth Your beauty and goodness in my situation I pray.

After my trying week, kind Elaine shared this link with me. Find your essence, let your presence be felt, demand and command respect. Unleash your inner kundalini, you can you know.

We are so busy waiting for that perfect moment. No use waiting for the perfect man or woman (ha!), ideal weather and hourglass figure/physique, it is for us to take the moments and make them ideal. Life is by no means perfect but it IS what you make it. Celebrate the essence of yourself (women and men!)

Are these not the angels we seek to help us find our way? Are these not the breadcrumbs of guidance? Are we not sometimes so lost, that we cannot see the wood for the trees? Do we not ask for divine intervention? Do we not beseech the Gods especially in our hour of need? When we do receive direction, we are oblivious to the signs and are still confounded. Being open-minded releases all sorts of possibilities and miracles too.

Soaking up celebrated moments, successes (big or small) keep us connected, mindful and boosts all the feel good hormones. Here are ten ways to help you do that :

1.  Appreciate the moment :
Admired that sunrise as you conquered that long commute, with minimum fuss and ease? Find that silver lining or golden sunrise/sunset, savour it. Not many are able to feel these natural gifts or see it as we do.

2.  Celebrate the days, be it :
Sinful Sundays :
Church, Sunday roast. No point in worrying about Monday, it will still be there.
Manic Mondays :
Schedules, Routines, Traffic. That is what Scheduler, traffics cops and bottomless cups of teas are for.
Twanging Tuesdays :
A Monday hangover… Enough said, some recovery time to complete that which you did not on Monday.
Wicked Wednesdays :
It’s the hump day of the week and here in South Africa, Steers Wacky Wednesdays double burgers.
Thankful Thursdays :
The eve of the weekend and a moment of re-generation and grounding.
Frivolous Fridays :
The anticipated weekend wind-down, coolers and wine with good friends.
Seductive Saturdays :
Chores, road trips and the “free” day.

3.  A remembrance diary :
Keep a diary for remembrance, for reminders, remember the bucket list and tick it off.  They all add up and motivate simultaneously. Feel that sense of accomplishment of a positive, determined mind-set.  Invest in yourself : Spoil yourself, get that pedicure, vamp up that look, looking good makes one feel good.

4.  Adopt a happy personality :
Find something good in every moment. Smile. Turn up the music, so what if someone is watching you, you could be their inspiration. Compliment genuinely, exchange pleasantries and it will be returned.

5.  Be kind :
That random act of kindness, like a smile, will be returned.  That will be reciprocated. Bollywood came up with a superb movie, Jai Ho, about an army officer who brings positive change with his mantra, “help someone in need, that person helps someone else, thus forming a chain reaction of kindness.

6.  React, emote :
Cry if you have to, release the pain and anger, you are only human and need that release. Bottling up seething emotions can be detrimental to the psyche.

7.  Let it go :
That past that is weighing you down, let it go. Let it go. You are not travelling in that direction now. Forward is the direction. Remember that powerfully positive song in Frozen that Elsa sang where she came to terms with herself and reached her potential?  It had over1 587 642 000 views, the facts speak for themselves.

8.  Gratitude IS the attitude :
Look around you, honestly, realistically. There is so much to be grateful for. Good health, friends, family, a job. Life.

9.  Acknowledgement :
Celebrate your achievements, speak kindly to yourself. Tired? Rest. Burned out? Take some time out. Don’t kill yourself to get that perfect instagrammable picture.  Savour the moment instead of being a slave to social media.

10.  Make the effort :
My cantankerous aunt made sense when she said, “get up, dress up, show up, do not lose the moment:. Todd says its best, “Go Outside Today”, “three simple words so much of what makes me tick. It’s a simple command that tells me to do the things that make me smile, that make me happy, that challenge me, and that bring me joy”.

No use sitting in your rocking chair at seventy, repenting at leisure, thinking to yourself that you “could have, should have made yourself happier”. It is borrowed time, time lost, too late, so live, treat and love what you have before the sands of time runs out.

 “Yesterday is a cancelled cheque; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have – so spend it wisely. ”
Quote by Kay Lyons