Celebrate Good Times

Celebrate Good Times

John Paul Derryberry

I remember my mom and dad's 25th wedding anniversary. It was a big deal. Dad had survived some health scares, and it was a milestone moment in their relationship. It marked a return to celebrations for our family after a long time of touch-and-go health stuff. Everyone was happy, and my parents got to have a moment to shine; a moment other people didn't step on, and those are pretty rare in life. My parents lingered at that moment, possibly because it was hard getting to 25 years, and the whole family sometimes didn't think Dad would live to see the day. I was happy for them; I also had a greater understanding of why we should celebrate the good times longer than we usually allow ourselves to do.

With the shortness of life, I always ask myself: should those moments be as rare as we make them? Or should we seek out those moments more often? Should we allow ourselves to celebrate milestones more often, or does the rarity of events add meaning, that would otherwise become mundane stuff, if we dared to celebrate more often? See, a team I lead had a breakthrough with a case they were working on, and instead of enjoying the moment, they were already engaged in planning for when the case went sideways. In another instance, a long-time employee wanted to avoid having a moment, during their big yearly event, about it being their last time putting the whole thing together. Lastly, a group of folks barely allowed the ink to dry on the fundraising total before diving into what could be better next year. Thinking that celebrating the win and the success too much would lead to its downfall; we always are on to the next thing; quicker than we probably have to be.

Look, I know we must move through moments; we can't linger forever or risk being stuck in the past. Life does not allow healthy things to occur if we linger in the past too long. But we should celebrate wins, milestones, and good times longer than we do. It's what makes life worth living. All the hard work culminated in a glorious and euphoric moment of success. It should be celebrated in a way where we are not planning for the other shoe to drop and it all to fall apart. Sometimes, we put so much care into a person, a project, or a relationship, that it won't fall apart because we celebrate it for two days instead of two seconds.

Yet just as it's unhealthy not to linger in the past too long, it's equally unhealthy not to celebrate the good times. Life has a way of spacing those out enough as it is. We should take the wins, allow those feelings to wash over us, and soften us to life. We have no problem allowing bad things to harden us. But being a jaded elderly person is a dangerous place to end up. If we fail to bask in the glow of success, that happens to us. We tend to lean toward life being constantly screwed up, and wearing the belief, that it never works out for us, like a permanent tattoo. Celebrating the good times, a second, a minute, an hour, and even a day longer pushes back on the notion life is always awful. We rewire our thinking to know it's not always a crappy life. Lengthening our celebrating is one of the most essential acts of rebellion we can take in society. Dare to celebrate the good times longer than usual. It's the best way to make a short life feel fuller, and the time we get, longer. Ultimately, it will allow us, as our time ends, to know we used our time wisely, focusing on our wins, the things we did right, and the moments it all came together. Celebrate good times and do it often.