Getting Real ~ It's Party Time

                          Celebrate Recovery.    
            Freedom from hurts, habits and addictions. 


Oh how we need to know that we can indeed celebrate recovery from those and many other things.

I love parties. I really do.  
I like the anticipation of my friends coming over. I like all the work that goes into getting the food ready and all the planning and the decorations and picking out the perfect playlist and what to wear, and whew.  Breathe...  But I LOVE parties!!!!!

I love to give parties and I love to have them given to me. (just in case you were wondering what to do for my birthday next year :)  


But when was the last time you threw a party for yourself?    


I know. It's not generally accepted to do your own party throwing - but what if..... 

What if we began celebrating the little things?   What if we began giving ourselves permission to make a REALLY big deal about the REALLY seemingly little things, because I believe it's those really little things that begin to add up to what in the end looks like REALLY big change.
 

And what if what we're celebrating doesn't look like what you should throw a party for?


You know, when someone is clean and or sober for a year, that's something wonderful to celebrate and is across the board a socially acceptable change which brought about the recovery.    

When your friend tackles his alcoholism and wins, then that too is a socially acceptable change that brought about the recovery. 

When a your closest friend confides that she's finally seeking help for her bulimia, then that too is a socially acceptable change that brought about the recovery.

No one would think twice about celebrating these people and their accomplishments, and I bet you could get 5-10 of your closest friends together for just that reason.  No one would question why, and you probably wouldn't get any snotty comments or down the nose looks of disapproval.  No - I think pretty much everyone would be up for that kind of celebration of that kind of recovery.

 But what about if you made it a month without sugar, with no cheats, and a possible weight and inches loss - against the wishes, understanding and support of those around you?  Isn't that a cause to celebrate?








What if you successfully came back from an injury and had not only healed, but had increased your anerobic as well as your endurance recovery time?   Isn't that a cause to celebrate?

And what about successfully letting go of a very real pain from your past, and finding that one day it didn't control you anymore?  





    I realize the celebration might look a little different for these seemingly smaller recoveries - but come on people, let's party more.     Let's be willing to be that someone who sees those little recoveries in others, and chooses to make a big deal about them.    

Let's start with you. You have to give yourself permission to party, and to celebrate and to give recognition to whatever recovery you are currently in.   

And then you have to pay that forward, and begin to notice others.  

Really notice others.

Start to see the people around you, and pay attention.   Speak up when you see them struggle and overcome.  Hand out compliments like smiles and be on the lookout for the little things.         

How different would our circle of influence be, if we could all become focused on celebrating life and it's smaller moments?


Recovery isn't just for others who struggle with harmful, hurtful addictions that we happily celebrate -all the while silently being grateful we don't have to deal with that. Possibly handing out our congratulations and our smile, laced with a tiny bit of judgment.    

Today I'm challenging you as well as myself, to be on the lookout for moments to celebrate.      Begin to see recovery in the simple things ~

  A good friend of mine said this about the different kinds of recovery ~

"At the gym, we do the things like the high-5's and "nice jobs"; I can see those as mini celebrations. I feel like it's a celebration to have the "post drink" -- it's like dessert! -- but the real purpose is to keep my body from breaking itself down.

The culture with my endurance groups is different and so we don't do the high-5's and so on. But after going out in the sticks with a group of folks, we might cap it with beer and maybe a dip in the Turkish bath. So the celebration is still there but in a different form.

Celebration coming out of injury might be involve more intense workouts. ;)

Nutritionally, the optimal pre and post routines might be different, but they could be looked at as celebrations and rewards to enhance the experience and prepare for the next one.

Psychologically, the nature of our social celebrations encourage us to keep coming back for more. (Harder, better, faster, stronger.)" (Rusty) 

 What does your recovery look like?   And how are you going to celebrate it from now on?  

Celebrate Recovery in all forms.     From the big to the very little-   don't let a party pass you by.   

You never know who might be waiting in the shadows for someone like you to share in and notice their recovery........