Celebrating Myself

This post is an entry to the "Celebrate Myself" contest on Women's Web. Here is a description from their website:

"Every year on Women’s Day, we celebrate inspiring women, we celebrate the achievements of our near and dear ones and while that is great, how often do we celebrate ourselves? It is indeed time to be less humble.

Tell us what about you is worthy of a celebration. Our theme this year, ‘Celebrating Myself,’ is about looking for the good in each of us and feeling GREAT about it!"

Women's Day comes and goes by every year.  We have several celebrations at work - luncheons, talks by senior business leaders, volunteering activities.....however, this year, I did not participate; neither did I know what had been planned.

But whether someone cares to celebrate me or not, I do celebrate myself. And not just on one day. Every day.

Why? It's pretty simple: if I won't celebrate myself, then no one else will. I have to believe in myself - in my strengths, in my achievements, in my aspirations, in my beliefs, and be my own huge advocate. Only then I have a chance of having others celebrate me, if they choose to.

On some days, it is harder to remain positive at the end of the day. Celebrating yourself on those days sounds like a far-fetched thought. But I have cultivated a small habit for myself. Every night, before going to bed, I think about 3-5 positive things that made me happy and/or smile during the day. On some days, it takes time to push aside the negative thoughts and bring the positive into light. On some days, they come without having to try. But each day definitely has something positive to cherish. You just have to find it.

It could be a very simple achievement, like being able to feed the picky and fussy daughter all her meals. Or making some good progress at work. Or talking to a family member or friend who called and needed me to listen. It could also be a random act of kindness that I did during the day. Or sending a warm positive email to someone far away from me. This habit works wonders. It calms me down, and fills me with gratitude, instead of stress, worry and anxiety. It relaxes my nerves, slows down my breath. It helps me sleep well. It helps me feel good about myself.

As I write this today, I have helped two people get their first ever job interviews in their life. One of them will be offered the job. I happened to be there for them when they needed it the most. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Also, as I write this today, I visited someone in the hospital who was involved in a car accident. I don't know what it was - my words, my touch, my presence - but as I was leaving, this person showered so much love on me....she took my palms and put them around her face...she gave me a warm bear hug (even though she has broken ribs) and she gave me kisses. Rather than being on the giving side, I clearly felt I was on the receiving end of love and warmth. I feel blessed about the fact that I was able to move such emotions in a person who is struggling with injury on a hospital bed.

Each one of us has gifts and strengths. We have weaknesses too.....but I strongly feel we have more strengths than weaknesses, and if we just focus on the positive, we can do wonders with our gifted life. Women, especially moms, have sooper powers. Just one example of going through pregnancy and child birth is enough to highlight this. We are naturals at multi-tasking. We have every right to celebrate ourselves - our body, our mind, our soul, our intellect, our love for our children-family-friends, our professions, etc.

I am a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mom, an engineering professional working full time and making a living since the last 12+ years, a caring friend and a compassionate human being. And each day, along with celebrating everything else in my life, I celebrate myself too!!!!