Celebrating Milestones—A Time to Pause and Reflect
My family makes a big deal about birthdays. We decorate the house for my son’s birthday in July, and keep it decorated right through my wife’s birthday in mid-September (mine is in early September). Like many anniversaries, birthdays are just ways to count another year going by (and an opportunity to eat and drink well!). But milestones go beyond tracking time and having celebrations. For many, they have a deeper meaning. They honor an auspicious occasion and/or allow us to recognize the significance of others’ presence in our lives. They’re also great opportunities to take stock of our lives—where we’ve been and where we’re going. To me, milestones are important, and reflecting on them contributes significantly to giving my life meaning.
Celebrate life’s victories (big and small)
My family also opens a bottle of champagne at the drop of a hat. We celebrate milestones in a serious and consistent way. It can be all too easy, in a hectic life, to stick to business as usual—to immediately move on to the next thing, and not reflect on the meaning and impact of what we accomplish. Although in my family, it’s sometimes more about the champagne than the milestone, it’s great that we don’t let these important moments pass without reflecting on them. Milestones also don’t have to be momentous to be worth celebrating. I just led an important webinar this week that was a culmination of a lot of hard work. You’re damn right we popped the bubbly! Recognizing life’s “little” victories helps you keep a sense of perspective when things get hard. Remembering and celebrating these moments can help you keep a positive attitude and psychological momentum.
Mindfulness and milestones
Mindfulness teaches us to live in the moment and be present. However, accomplishments and other milestones are often a reflection on the past. I believe one can be mindful and still celebrate a milestone. These celebrations are more about the present feelings of pride, joy, and fun than they are about living in the past. A wedding anniversary, for example, takes place on a certain date that is tied to a past event, but it is more of a celebration of the connection in the present. A birthday celebrates the present person, even though its timing is based on a past event. To me, a big part of celebrating a milestone is meditating and reflecting on the moment in the context of that milestone.
Another feeling that is related to celebrating milestones is pride. Pride is often viewed in a negative light (e.g., the sin of pride). But a healthy sense of pride can be a very good thing. As with our other emotions, when you are mindful of feelings of pride, they are considerably less likely to turn into related attributes like arrogance, and stay in the realm of self-esteem, dignity, and self-worth. Being proud of your successes, accomplishments, and of who you are as a person is healthy. It is tied to self-worth and confidence in a very direct way. Be mindful of the healthy aspects of pride, and be on guard against arrogance and hubris—pride can be nothing but positive.
Where are you and where do you want to be
As you move through life, your milestones can help you to see where you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going. The Romans, when making roads, set up obelisks every mile to help travers know how far they had come (thus “milestone”). Your personal milestones can serve the same purpose. They can give you a chance to reflect on your journey and how you came to this milestone. Milestones can provide you with something to look forward to and be excited about. Finally, they’re an opportunity for you to identify the things that went well and the things that you’d do differently. They can be times to make tweaks to the way you live and work.
As you travel down your road, pay attention to the milestones and what they are telling you. And don’t hesitate to pop the bubbly.
