The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by. – Alek Wek

I’ve gone through a few months of really being in neutral. Not depressed but just no extra energy, I’ve been doing everything I need to, going to work, working out, cooking, cleaning etc… But I just haven’t had the energy for anything extra, not mentally or physically. So I’ve been stuck about the final plans for the actual date of my 60th birthday, I haven’t been writing beyond the minimal work of getting this blog out each week and just doing nothing else. The upside, I’ve caught up on a lot of streaming shows, but have spent far too much time on the couch.

I spent some time recently at a conference, it was great to see old colleagues and have the type of interactions that make you feel like you have some worth to folks, something I don’t get on my own campus very often. This trip seems to have kickstarted things, a good friend called and we’ve made plans for my actual birthday, today I made some arrangements for another trip I’m planning. I also had my quarterly blood test today.

One thing I’ve been doing lately has been to look for small things to celebrate. I’ve also been celebrating in smaller ways to make sure I don’t go overboard on cokes or pizza. I’ve been doing a bit better on my blood sugar issues lately. But finding time to do these small celebrations, really just doing little things I really enjoy has helped my mood.

This afternoon, after my blood work I decided that today should be one of those days. So after swinging back into the office to get some necessary things done, I did my favorite thing at work and went over to the child development center to see my little friends. I popped in just at the end of nap time, so the munchkins were at full speed in no time. I was attacked with imaginary spider webs, by monsters and even by one skeleton-pirate-robot. At one point I yelled save me and one little girl came running over with a little sign she made for me to use to scare away the monsters, it was adorable.

After leaving my friends I went to the grocery store and picked up the ingredients to make chicken parmigiana and raviolis for dinner and to really make it a celebration a tiny container of ice cream and bottle of Sioux City Sarsaparilla, just enough for a single root beer float. I’ve finished dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, put my lunch together for tomorrow and turned on a big foot documentary, all in all a pleasant evening.

It’s important friends to find the time and the ways to do these little positive things for yourself. Call it self-care or maintaining balance. Personally, I like the idea of them being tiny little celebrations of happiness, for no other reason than celebrating you’re alive. Have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane