Celebrating You!

It’s my birthday today and I wanted to share this hilarious picture of me at age 4.  My birthday has got me thinking about a great book I read recently. 

It is called Mutant Message Down Under and it is about this woman who is taken into an aborigine tribe in Australia for months and learns their ways.  One of the differences they discover is how they celebrate their lives.  She explained the concept of birthday parties and the tribe scratch their heads and say why do you celebrate just getting older when you don’t have to do anything to age?  Why not celebrate your own growth?

So they shared that each person in the tribe decides when they have truly grown and have something to celebrate.  The whole tribe then stops and prepares a full celebration  to honor them. 

I thought about this a lot and decided today to mix the two traditions.  I sat in meditation this morning to recognize my personal growth since my last birthday and appreciate myself for the work I’ve done. 

Sound egoistic at all to you?  If it does consider that self-love and appreciation are one of the most powerful gifts we can give ourselves. By cultivating our own loving,  we are more able to move offer all we have inside to the world.  In my experience, celebrating is also one of the keys to building momentum and experiencing success.  The simple willingness to shout WOO HOO when something great happens, is like fuel to the take off of our next stage of growth.  In my book, gratitude seems is a key to unlocking more support from the universe.  So cheer yourself on and enjoy all you’ve accomplished too!