Making time for the little things

Written by Hannah Wallace

Why making time to encourage more appreciation and gratitude in our lives is key, especially when our calendars get busier and busier

How often do you celebrate yourself and your achievements? The answer is probably not that often. No one wants to seem like they are bragging and showing off.

Next month is the awards ceremony, and it reminds us of the importance of recognising and celebrating the amazing things people are achieving. Life is tricky enough so having a celebration event where we take the time to celebrate things is a powerful thing to get us in the present to recognise this.

There is a deeper facet to this; we often associate celebrations for only the bigger things, which of course is great and really wonderful when someone’s hard work is recognised.

But what about the little things along the way? We need to be celebrating these too, in my opinion, as these are as important and are great ways to let us see how far we’ve come and to cheer ourselves on for the little things that we are achieving day to day.

This could be anything from getting into a new routine, finishing a small project, sticking to a new exercise regime, having a consistent meditation practise, trying a new recipe, having a really good self care regime or even something as simple as a regular gratitude practice. I’ve just mentioned a few things here but I’m sure you get where I’m coming from... we start celebrating these things we create a more positive shift in our lives, and it brings into greater alignment with ourselves. When we stop and pause and celebrate the little wins regularly, it breaks things up. It creates positive rhythms and it allows us to gain perspective; as we all know perspective is great as it allows us to see things more clearly. The power of pausing is never to be underestimated, too, as it allows us to be present.

How can we bring more of this into our lives? I suggest tracking it: make a celebration jar and place regularly in there the little things you’re achieving and then once a month or even weekly empty it and celebrate yourself. Alternatively, you could write a list and keep track of it this way. Or, another way is, if you like working with others, to start a small Whatsapp group with a friend can share your small wins together with each other on a regular basis.

All of these ways will create a positive shift in your life and be a springboard into helping you achieve the bigger things you are working towards. Let this give you some food for thought, and never underestimate the magic of something like this. No matter how small the things you are celebrating are, it all has a positive effect on your life and your wellbeing.

AFFIRMATION

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

ROBERT BRAULT