Let's Hew You

Wait for it…wait for it…wait for it…YES! FINALLY! Oh my goodness! I thought it would never happen. It seemed like I had been waiting forever! Finally, the moment is here and everything that I could ever hope for has come true! Yes! Please! Help me catch my breath. I’m ecstatic. I’m relieved. I’m jubilant. I’m thankful. I can finally move on. No more holding it in. No more…no more…no more!

Okay…okay…okay…let me get myself together so that I can move on.

No, you know what? Let me bask in this moment. I am not going to cheat myself of this joy. I’m not going to cut it short. I am not going to pretend. No. I have worked hard for it. I’ve prayed even harder and now that it’s here, I’m not going to cheat myself of the celebration that this warrants. I have borne the pain, the agony and the defeat. Let me steep myself in the joy and the reward. I claim this joy. I shall not disown it. This is what I wanted.

Have you ever been in a similar situation? You were hoping for something – acceptance to university, the deal closing on your new home, the client accepting your offer, the offer of employment after the interview, your crush responding to your message, the new series/movie release? Have you been there? How did you react? Did you allow yourself to celebrate, or did you quickly sweep it under the rug like it was nothing big?

We do cheat ourselves that way, don’t we? Oh, we’re very good at letting everyone know when we’re carrying a cross. Somehow, though, when we’ve made it through the storm, through the rain, through the wilderness, we are afraid to celebrate. We wear our pain like we were born for it, but we are afraid to embrace our glory.

Think back to the last time you got good news. How did you receive the news? Did you openly rejoice, or did you smother your excitement? Did you wear your thrill as innocently as the toddler happy to see her mum or dad at the end of a long day? Or, were you the nonchalant, ultra suave, can’t-let-them-see-me-excited cool cat who just nodded and said a quick, ‘Great!’?

My friends, did it ever occur to you that celebration is a form of gratitude? Did you not cry, cuss, get angry when you did not get what you had been hoping for? So now, why are you all bashful about celebrating when you do receive?

Let your celebration embellish your gratitude. Sing your song of joy, shout out with a thankful and jubilant heart, do your dance, let your teeth show. Whatever you do, just don’t hide your joy.

Your celebration is also cathartic. It’s your release. It’s your purification. It’s your emptying self of all the stress, anxiety, pain, and grief that you might have had bottled up inside that now need to be released. We scream in anger don’t we? Well, hey, shout for joy, won’t you?

My friends, I am owning my celebration. I am not hiding it. I encourage you to do likewise.

Until next time, love, peace and ton-loads of joy!