Let's Celebrate!

My daughter was a volleyball player. Throughout her teen years, we traveled with her teams to watch them compete. One of the girls who played on both her high school and travel teams rarely showed any emotion during the games. Whether it was an error or a victory, this girl’s expression remained the same. The mother of this girl was also the coach for their high school volleyball team. One day she expressed to the girls that she wanted them to help teach her daughter how to celebrate. She viewed celebration as a big part of making the sport more enjoyable, which could lead to even better performance. Her daughter gradually began showing more joy and appeared to be having a great time. She also went on to become quite successful in her volleyball career.

Expressing more joy

This lesson stuck with me and has come into play in all aspects of life, especially since receiving a blood cancer diagnosis. With every life circumstance, from the biggest to the smallest, I have asked myself the question, “Am I celebrating enough?”

After my first diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia and much time in the hospital, it seemed fairly easy to celebrate as I regained strength. The simplest things, such as being able to dust my whole house without resting, filled me with pride and gratitude.

When I was given another chance at life, I started to notice how precious the small things had become. After months of weakness and the fear of what I may never be able to do again, I began to celebrate things I never had before. And who doesn’t rejoice when seeing their blood counts improving? It all became such a big deal.

Taking precious moments for granted

Then as time rolled along and even with relapses, I started to lose that sense of accomplishment with the small stuff. Maybe since I didn’t get as sick as the first time, I felt less pride in simply being able to complete household chores? I think about it sometimes and wonder why I often don’t even notice all that I am able to do. It’s like once I learned a bit what to expect, I found less sense of accomplishment in the small victories.

Some view celebrating self accomplishments as boastful. It can be annoying to watch athletes go overboard with celebration, depending on if it’s your team or the opponent who is doing the celebrating. There have even been penalties implemented for such a thing. In those cases, I find myself asking “Who is this celebration for?” In the case of professional football players, the dances in the end zone are clearly for hyping the fans as much as they are for a display of personal victory.

Creating a victory party for the small things in life

But what would happen if we created our own personal victory party for even the smallest things? When I become aware of doing this, I feel like a walking gratitude journal. When I take pride in all that I do and internally throw some confetti in honor of that, I find that I want to accomplish more. I tend to create self love while boosting my own energy level. The simplest things become symbols of achievement and joy. And in general, my performance with everything improves. The more difficult aspects of living with leukemia tend to lighten as well.

My motto today has become, If you can do it, it’s worth celebrating! Life is precious, and being here is a big deal. I congratulate you (and myself) for that. We’ve all been through a lot simply to be here. I hope anyone reading this can take great pride in where you are and how far you’ve come. No matter where you are on your personal blood cancer journey, I celebrate you!