What a moment it is, eh? The Graduation Music wafts in and the graduates march in to take their seats. All the work, the papers, the presentations, and the marks are done, and now is the time to celebrate.
Martin and I found ourselves sitting in the Great Hall last week, full of pride and memories as we attended as the parental representatives, the convocation of one of our little housemates. She is here from China and earned a double major with honors in subjects we can hardly pronounce let alone understand, to do with biochemistry and genetics and changing DNA. It is a lot, isn’t it? She has been in a foreign country, studying in her non-native English, far away from home and family, during the pandemic and she did it. and she did it with honors.
The University President’s voice boomed through the now quiet hall. He spoke of grit, resilience, and determination and how deep these graduates had to dig during this time of the pandemic, during these past two and a bit years of nothing being close to normal. Mostly, he spoke of pride. He spoke of how incredibly proud he and the rest of the University are of these youngsters. And that is how we felt, bursting with pride and joy for each and every one of them!
Later on, we showed our love and pride by hosting lobster dinner, scallops, hodgepodge ( a Nova Scotian treat), and my World Famous Blueberry pie, we did it all up in fine style!
And I got to thinking just how incredibly important it is that we take time to Celebrate. I am thinking of my clients, who are making changes in their lives, big and small each day. It takes the same determination, grit, and resilience to start exercising, quit smoking, and eat healthfully as it does to earn a University degree. It takes both mental grease and elbow grease to get the job done. We, humans, have a tendency to skip the celebration part, don’t we? I know someone who lost 25 lbs, he was like “oh great” for two seconds, and then on to the next 25 he wanted to lose. I am saying NO!. Stop. Celebrate. Feel the Pride. Let the Joy in. Have your own little Convocation each day!
Last week my computer died! It didn’t owe me anything, it was very old. Still, I had to replace it. I am not a fan of dealing with technology, to put it mildly. So I had to dig down to get the job done, I had to figure it out step by step until I brought the new one home. So you know what? I am celebrating this moment. I am letting myself feel the joy, the relief, and the excitement. and my kitty cat and I are taking a few moments to dance Salsa around the kitchen.
So stop and celebrate all the moments!
I hope this helps.
Warmly,
Susy
