Video on this topic here
When was the last time you took a real, deep intentional pause, and reflected on where you are? How far have you come? Who you used to be?
The answer may be never. Our brains have gotten used to this go go go mentality of everything being just another check off some never ending list, so instead of stopping to give ourselves the celebration for each step of the way, we’re already off running to the next thing on the list before we’ve even realized we’ve done something worth celebrating.
What’s worth celebrating, you might ask? Every fucking thing. You owe yourself a laundry list of congratulations that are long overdue. I know some might say that if you show yourself too much appreciation you’ll get cocky and self centered and I think that the more you tune into your intuition the better you’ll be able to gauge the true energy you’re moving through in each individual situation.
But really, when was the last time you stopped to reflect? You could be currently living in what was once a prayer, once a dream, and not even know it because you haven’t taken a second to breath, a second of silence.
I’m guilty of this myself. So focused on my next goal, next chapter, next accomplishment, I barely stop to realize that I’m sober when just a few years ago I would cry in my car and wonder if I’d ever be able to get clean. I barely stop to realize that I make myself a fresh meals and getting my energy back when not long ago, I was eating nothing but processed foods that made me feel like absolute crap all the fucking time. I hardly stopped to realize that I had the courage to book my first solo flight when at one point, traveling was just some out there dream that I never thought I’d actually build up the courage to do.
I could go on and on, but this isn’t about me. Think about how many you can collect for yourself. While you’re continually adding to the checklist of things you want to accomplish and the person you want to be and habits you want to develop and places you want to go and whatever the fuck else you want to do, I hope you give just as much effort to creating a list of all the things you have already done, who you already are.
Don’t just keep it in your head, write out an actual physical list. You’ll be amazed at how many things you’ve collected. Put them all down, the big wins, the small wins. Maybe now you make your bed, maybe now you fold your laundry, maybe now you floss. I guarantee there’s things you do now that you didn’t before, I guarantee there’s parts of you now that past versions of you only dream of.
Somewhere out there is a child version of you, admiring the idea of who you have become.
Something I started doing recently that feels really good that I recommend to others is I started a ‘good things always happen to me’ list. And in this note is a compilation of little wins or random good things that happen to me and every time I remember I go in there and I will do it with whatever comes to my mind. They don’t have to be grand or crazy, but you’ll be amazed at how many you collect.
You’ll slowly get yourself into the habit of slowing down to take a look around, take a breath, and notice what’s going on. Cool and amazing stuff is happening all the time, I hope you give yourself the permission to stop and see it, stop and look at it, stop and appreciate it.