Celebrating this time of year is natural. Finding ways to celebrate all year long takes planning.
Celebrate
[sel-uh-breyt] verb
1. to observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies or festivities
Joy
[joi] noun
1. a state of happiness or felicity
In the prime of my life I was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma. A malignant tumor on my kidney. Cancer. Impossible! I never imagined my name and cancer in the same sentence. I was far too young. Who would raise my children? What about my grandchildren? What about my future, my dreams, my aspirations?
Clearly the only control we have over unexpected challenges is how we handle them. The choice is ours so I made the decision to push through this hurdle in my life with courage, humor and grace. Although sometimes a challenge, I worked diligently to make lemonade out of the lemons. It was a miracle the tumor was discovered, but certainly no accident. I do not believe for a minute that the timing of events in my life was a coincidence. Without doubt, I experienced a miracle, and during the dark months of surgeries and recovery, I determined I would take my life to a new level. Never again would I take any facet of life for granted. Celebrating the precious gift of life would become part of my everyday routine and I determined to step my life up a notch or two by creating a more joy-filled and joyful life for myself and those in my circle of influence. Ultimately I envision sharing my passion for celebrating life – life filled with purpose and joy – with hundreds, even thousands.
As the anniversary of becoming cancer free approached, I initially planned slowing my pace of life for a few hours and pampering myself. As I pondered how I could create the ultimate celebration I thought of all the kindnesses extended to me by so many as I recuperated from serious health issues. Realizing that reaching out to family and friends who lifted me when I was down and sharing a celebration of life, not my life, but the gift of life we all enjoy, would create more joy than being focused only on myself.
My first Celebration of Life was a huge success. On the invitation, I explained this event was not about celebrating my life, but joining in a celebration of the miracle of life as we shared a few hours doing celebration-of-life projects that I provided or, if the guests chose, doing nothing at all. There were no expectations. I wanted my guests to come, unwind and enjoy time to focus on whatever sparked joy for them. In subsequent years, I have created a special celebration of some sort to remind me and others of the precious gift of life and the importance of living in joy and happiness.
None of us are guaranteed another day and we certainly do not want to come to the end of our lives filled with regret of dreams unfulfilled or precious time wasted.
Just ‘celebrating’ didn’t seem like enough. The experience needed to be deeper, more meaningful. Joy and gratitude have the highest frequency of all emotions. Creating joy in our life will elevate our daily existence. Focused on celebrating with joy, life will be sweeter, filled with richness, and we will discover life to be more than a mere existence or survival. Joy undoubtedly distinguishes the difference in mediocrity and extraordinary. Thus, the Celebrate with Joy campaign was launched.
Most of the time we have to create our own joy. Discover ways to weave joy into even the mundane and routine. Sometimes there are joyous moments that just happen but for the most part, we must take control of our lives and create joy for ourselves.
Create ways to celebrate life all through the year. Create your own Celebration of Life Day.
Learn more at CelebrateWithJoy.com. Susan Stucki is an author and entrepreneur.